Nine Months
by Kairei
Summary: [YYHxIY X-Over] Wasn't life hard enough for Kagome? You would think that fighting demons and homework was enough. But no,now she's somehow pregnant with a certain spiky haired fire apparition's baby... and how will Inuyasha react? KagHiei
1. The Honest Mistake

**        A/N: This idea has been bothering me for the longest time! I mean, I keep picturing Hiei getting drunk, and each time, I burst into laughter at the hot, extremely controlled, ever straight-faced HIEI becoming DRUNK. Honestly people, you have to admit, it sounds weird.  Anyway, this is a Kagome and Hiei fic (even though they really hate each other at first) and yes, Sengoku Jidai scenario still exists and everything, but… ah, just read it. Please vote for other pairings! **

**        There will be no lemon, sorry, but I'm… let's just say I'm WAY too young to write that! ^_^ But this is rated Pg 13 for a combination of language, some violence, drinking, and the "joys" of pregnancy. Fun ne?**

**                                                                Nine Months**

**                                                Chapter 1: An Honest Mistake**

"Give me another one."  Kagome Higurashi downed the shot easily, and placed the glass with the other empty ones set the bar.  "Another one."  She commanded. 

        "Rough day, huh?"  The bartender asked.  Kagome wasn't quite sure if it was a man or a woman at this point, everything was pretty much a blur.  All that existed was her… and sake. 

        "Just.give.me.another.shot."  She said, surprised that she was still able to speak.  As another tiny glass was given to her, her hand shook as she brought it to her lips.  She sighed as the liquid slid down her throat.  The bitter taste had left about forty glasses ago, now all she tasted was… well, nothing.  

        The sensation of its tingle in her mouth, the soothing feeling it gave to her senses, that was all she needed.  She could care less how she would get home, or the fact that she was not yet of age to be drinking at all…. Let alone that she didn't have the money. 

        "Stupid Inuyasha."  She goggled, before, "Give me another one."  

        _That idiot.__ Stupid asshole runs off to a stupid clay pot…_

        The bartender sighed as she gave the girl another drink.  It was obvious that she was depressed or angry about something, and she wasn't too keen on being on someone's death list… especially since she was death.

        Kagome downed it again, before allowing her head to fall to the bar. _I don't feel too good. _

        "Ah, hello Hiei."  She heard the bartender chimed.  Out of the corner of her eye, she saw someone sit on the chair next to hers. 

        "Hn."  The person said.  "Give me sweet snow."  His voice was a command, just as hers had been, only without the gurgle of drunkness to it. 

        "Sweet Sn-? Oh no Hiei, remember what happened the last time?"  The bartender said. 

        "Botan, I'm not in the best of moods today, don't question me. Give. Me. Sweet. Snow.** Now."**

        "Meow Me-" Wait a minute… what?

        What was that?  Boy, Kagome must've really been drunk because she thought she heard the bartender… "Meow" ing?  _No matter. If she's a cat, a dog, a human, as long as she can fork over the booze._

        The bartender, Botan, handed Hiei a huge bowl of what he called "sweet snow."  

        She slowly backed away, between the drunk girl and Hiei, who was the only person she had known who could get drunk from ice cream (She hated to think what beer would do to him), she wasn't having the best of luck with customers tonight. 

        It was because of Hiei in the first place that they even had ice cream at the bar now.  The last time however, he had gone completely mad, and almost started to strip on the bar.  The demon had transformed into a complete nut-case, and she didn't want to be here now once he got dru-  

        "Hey baby, how's it going?"  _Too late._The blue-haired bartender thought. Hiei, finished with about a gallon of "sweet snow" and now acting peculiarly similar to a drunken ningen, had started to talk to the girl. At first, Botan had almost felt the need to need to giggle at her old friend's rather uncharacteristic behavior.

        _Well, at least he's not trying to take off his clothes this time.  _Botan thought, slightly relieved. 

        But it was then she noticed something… Hiei and that girl were now walking out of the bar… together… with his arm rested around her shoulder. He was laughing a rather strange hee-haw and she was giggling in a high pitched squeak. 

        _Oh no. Oh no. He isn't going to…_ "Hey… wait a minute…"  Botan said to herself, suddenly remembering the mounds of shot glasses.  "YOU FORGOT TO PAY!" 

        ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

        She wasn't sure where she was exactly, but she didn't really care.  All that mattered was that she was feeling great.  

        His eyes captivated her, as she ran her fingers through his spiky black hair.

        Bliss washed over her as whoever this person was, she didn't care who at the moment, smashed his lips against hers.  

        She giggled into his mouth, allowing passage for his tongue. 

        Tasting the remainder of the "sweet snow", she giggled once more.  She wasn't sure who she was. Where she was. What she was. 

        But did it really matter?  Did anything really matter? She felt hands on the buttons of her shirt.  

        She closed her eyes. Forgetting all her morals, everything she had always strived for, losing herself to a man… 

        ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

        Kagome awoke to the soft sound of the birds chirping merrily outside. She clenched her eyes shut tightly as she felt the rays of the sun clashing into her eyelids. 

        "Dammit."  She said.  _What time is it?_ She thought curiously.  _What day is it? _And the classic question… _Who am I? And why does this thing on the top of my body hurt so much? What is it called? Oh yeah, my leg.. no, my arm… no my… head! Yes, that's it. Why does my head hurt so much?_

Somehow, she found the strength to pull herself up.  However, once she was sitting in the bed, her head exploded. 

        Fatigue stabbed every inch of her body and she allowed herself to fall back down once more.  Her head was pounding, it was as if some heavy metal band decided to use her head as their drum. 

        She moaned as she rubbed her temples.  But it was then that memories came back to her. 

        Orbs of blood red. 

        Soft, silky hair.

        And… 

        Her eyes widened.  "KKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKYYYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" 

        She sat, panting heavily on the bed.  "Calm down. Calm down. Calm down. I'm sure it was all just a dream… yes… I cam straight home after the bar.  Straight home.  Calm down." 

        "Dammit… stupid ningen, shut up."  But it was then that she realized that she wasn't home.  How had she not noticed him right next to her… on the bed? 

        Kagome whimpered when she saw him, the groggy form of a man… right next to her.

        "KKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" 

        "Baka Onna! Shut it, you're hurting my ears!"  The man growled, burrowing himself into the sheets.  

        Kagome panicked.  She felt the sheets, very, VERY close to her body.  Afraid at what she might see, she lifted the blankets just enough so she could peek at what she was wearing… 

        Kagome's fear was realized with yet another ear splitting,

"KKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH-"  Her scream was cut off when strong hand clasped her mouth.

        "Dammit! Shut up or die!"  The man groled.  His crimson eyes piercing her skin.  

        However, it was then that he seemed to realize something. He glanced at her, naked as the day she had been born, to himself who was in a similar state, to the bed… which they shared.  At first, he looked calm, but his features strained as if fighting with himself.  All hopes of a straight face vanished. "KKKKKYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"  His scream was a little more masculine than hers had been, but with the same logic. 

        Kagome decided to scream as well "KKKKKKKKKKKKKKYYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"  

        "KYYYAAA!" 

        "KYAAAAAA!" 

        "KYAAAAAAAAAAA!" 

        "KYYYYYYYYAAAAAAA-" 

        "Okay! That's enough! Baka Onna! Why. Are. You. In. My. Bed?! AND WHY ARE YOU **NAKED**!?"  The man yelled, desperately trying to stay calm, collected, stoic… himself at least?  However, that is a bit hard when you wake up naked next to a human girl.  

        Forgetting about her headache, confusion and rage took over Kagome's emotions.  "You… HENTAI! WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?!"  

        "I didn't do **anything! **All **I **wanted was sweet snow, and I… Oh no."  Kagome pulled more of the 

blankets around her body, careful to leave nothing exposed. 

        "What?"  Kagome inquired, almost afraid to ask. She could sense that the guy was a demon, and she wasn't exactly liking the idea of being in bed with one. 

        "A-After I eat sweet snow… I'm not… myself."  He grimaced, remembering what he had done the last time, which that sly fox had managed to tape for him and the rest of the Reikai Tantei to see.  Hiei almost gaped at his explanation, why was he explaining himself to a human in the first place?  

        "S… So you got **drunk **on **ice cream** and then you take **advantage** of me?!" Kagome lost it, fully prepared to kill the idiotic, pervert of a demon with her bare hands. Sure her miko powers hadn't fully developed to their glory yet, but in the current circumstances, surely rage would lead to an increase of ability.

        "Well, if **I** remember correctly, **you** didn't seem to have a **problem** with it **last night!**"  Both sat there in shock at what he had just said.  Blushing furiously, they turned away from the other. 

        Kagome glanced at him, he was sitting there with an unreadable face, staring at the sheets in front of him.  Kagome blushed harder, noticing how bare his chest was.  Mentally slapping herself, she reminded her mind that she had to find a way out, as well as the thought that Inuyasha's chest was more masculine… but was that true? _Dammit__ Kagome, pull yourself together._  Trying to think through the affects of her hangover, courtesy of last night's drinking escapade, she took a glance in back of her.  

        Her hand wandered in back of her, clutching onto the smooth handle, she quickly brought the lamp down hard over the demon's head.  The electrical cord pulled out easily, smacking him in the noggin as well as he fell to the depths of the bed, unconscious. 

        Kagome knew that, being a demon, he wouldn't stay in his current state for long.  She found her clothes, which, she noticed ruefully, were thrown in separate areas of the room. Blushing furiously, she dressed in record time as she raced out of the motel room. 

        Tears flew in back of her as she ran down the hall, without a word to the bell man, she raced into the street, running straight home.  

        How had this happened? How could she have possibly allowed this to occur?  To allow herself to lose her virginity.  She continued to run down the sidewalk, she couldn't care less that she looked like a convict running from the scene of a crime.  

        One of her greatest fears was of being raped.  To be stripped of her innocence and childhood against her will.  

And most of all… to lose what she had been saving for one person… Inuyasha. 

And yet, she had done it **willingly**.  

Kagome collapsed, half in pain from the awful hangover, and half from the pain of anguish.  "Inuyasha…" _What will he think? _

Through tear-filled eyes, Kagome noticed where she was.  Right in front of the department grocery store.  

"Uhmm…" Kagome slowly got to her feet, finding this extremely difficult at the moment.  She would give anything just to be home.  To collapse into her bed until this awful after drinking feeling had finally worn off. But she had to do this.  

If there was even the slightest of chances... 

As Kagome grazed through the aisles, she finally found which one she was looking for.  

For many years, she had passed this aisle, not once thinking about walking down it, let alone look for something in it.  

She had never thought that there were so many different kinds, even more variety then when she had first looked for a tampon to use. 

3 Weeks. 

7 days. 

Morning After.  ( A/N: Okay, first of all, I have absolutely no idea whatsoever if there is such a thing as this kind of pregnancy test.  I have never been pregnant, and have never actually… you know, did anything to suggest that thought. So if I'm wrong with this, I'm sorry, please correct me, but do it politely.)

Hastily, Kagome grabbed the little box, threw it in her shopping basket, and made a beeline to the check out line.  

Kagome was glad for one thing as she made her way home, that was that she hadn't run into anyone she knew at the store.  Had someone saw her buying what she did… well, Kagome really didn't want to think about it. 

As Kagome reached her house, she realized that she hadn't told her family of her return.  She had gone straight from the well house to the bar.  She, however, didn't have the energy left to deal with telling her mother of her adventure, listening to Grandpa's stories, or be forced into a video game with her little brother, Souta.  

Kagome slid the shoji open and sprinted upstairs to her room, not running into or seeing anyone in the process.  

Once in the safety of her bathroom, Kagome dumped the content of the plastic grocery bag out on her sink.  She tore open the box after hastily reading the directions.  

More tears ran down her face as she opened the box.  

When she was finished, she set the tester on her sink.  

She stared at the meter.  If it turned red, she was free.  She wouldn't have the burden of a demon's child, and she could maybe even bring herself to laugh about it in the years to come. 

But if it turned blue… 

Kagome almost didn't want to look at the wretched device.  She would've given anything, anything to just have twenty-four hours of her entire life back.  

But the fact was that she could never go back.  That this was her only reality, her fate lay in this little contraption. 

Finally, the meter displayed its answer. 

… 

Kagome's knees shook violently before giving away altogether.  She fell to the bathroom floor, clutching the test. 

Blue.

A/N: I would've given in a cliffy, but that would be kinda stupid because you all already know that she was preggo anyway right? I mean, c'mon.  

Anyway, please review! It just makes me all warm inside! Aren't you just **dying** to know what will transpire once Inu-chan finds out?

… I am too. 


	2. The Mission

**        A/N:  Wow! I didn't expect so much response in one chapter! **

**        Plushies and Pocky to everyone! **

**        Arigato, Minna! XD!**

**        Unfortunately, spring break is over, and my dad says I spend too much time on the computer. So I can only go on the computer during weekends.  Luckily, I have a four day weekend! XD! **

**        Oh, and to AbsentAngel, I couldn't agree with you more! ^.^ *goes off to worship Hiei***

**        *bows rapidly* Sorry! **

**        Disclaimer: I don't own YuYu Hakusho or Inuyasha.  Trust me if I did, I wouldn't be writing fanfics. Because I am making NO MONEY and don't plan to. So there! Muahahahahaha! **

**                                                                        Nine Months **

**Chapter 2: The ****Mission******

Kurama sighed.  He cast yet another look at his friend.  

        Sure Hiei had never been the cheerful, Botan type, but he had never seemed this… distant and irritable before. 

        "Maybe its PMS." Kuwabara muttered to him.  In truth, Youko wanted dearly to smack the baka up-side the head for his stupidity, but thankfully, Kurama resisted. 

        "Suggest that I'm a female again baka ningen, and I'll relieve you of that ugly head of yours."  Hiei had spoken for the first time since they had arrived in Spirit World. Not counting, the "Hn's" of course. 

        Even Kuwabara was smart enough (A/N: HA!) to take heed to the fact that the room's temperature rose rather significantly.  However, he did mutter, "When did I say shorty's a chick?"  The heat stung at his cheeks as beads of sweat began to role down his face.  He whimpered rather pathetically and inched away from the fire demon. 

        Kurama shook his head, praying that Kuwabara never marry Yukina.  Heaven forbid the two would become in-laws.  

        All hell would break loose.  Knowing Hiei, it might very well be literally. 

        Before Hiei could burn Kuwabara to death, a blue ogre emerged from the large office doors.  "Koenma will see you now."  Face straight and chest puffed, he looked just as distinguished and business-like as a blue man with two stubby horns and a leopard-skin kilt possibly could. 

        Hiei, Kuwabara, and Kurama stepped wordlessly into Koenma, son of King Yama's office.  

        Making their way through the mountains of paper-work, the three found the "Mighty Prince of Reikai".

        Without so much as a greeting, the orange topped ningen idiot asked "Hey Jr. What's with all the paperwork?"  

        Ever seen a stressed baby dressed in a fighting outfit and burdened with many wrinkles? Well, that was exactly what the Mighty Lord Koenma looked like. 

        "It's almost summer."  The baby explaimed, slamming his fist on his paperwork. "Stress from finals.  Restless kids killing classmates… you do the math."  His eyes darted as they scanned the trio.  "Where's Yusuke?" 

                                                                        **In Ningenkai**  

        "YOU PERVERT!"  Yet another scream emitted after yet another slap throughout the school's halls.  

        Keiko Yukimura stormed away from the said "pervert" who was currently twitching in the hallway's floor.  She ranted and fumed as she pushed her fellow, wide-eyed students out of her way, ranting things about perverts and stupid Yusukes. 

        The boy lay there murmuring incoherent words, somewhere in the middle between bras and teddy bear land.  This was however, before he felt a vibration in his left pocket. 

        "Great."  He groaned.  Taking a… compact mirror out?  The passing students watched in interest as the boy flipped open the mirror. 

        "Hey! Looking good!"  The students stared at the delinquent as if he had just grown a second head atop of his shoulders.  They decided this was ordinary Yusuke Urameshi behavior before checking their watches, gasping, and hurrying off to class.  

        BRING! 

        BRING!

        The boy, as always, ignored the period 6 bell. 

        "Shut it Yusuke.  It's because of your slacking off that I have bags under my eyes in the first place!  You were supposed to be here an hour ago!"  The mirror was as no student would find out, was actually a link to another.  Another that was held by Kowenma. 

        Yusuke thought for a moment as Koenma, on the other side of the link glared at his Spirit Detective.  "Oh yeah, I forgot about that."  Koenma seemed enraged.  "Well, are you coming or not?!"  Yusuke weighed his options. 

        Stay here in school and ditch class.  Or go on some mission and almost get his head chopped off… 

        Decisions, decisions. 

        "Yeah, Yeah, I'm coming."  Yusuke growled.  If your falling over at his choice right now, you obviously don't know Yusuke Urameshi. 

                                                                **One Hour Later**

**                                                                Koenma's office**

"Know that you're all **finally** here…"  The reikai prince started, glaring pointedly at the detective. 

        "Yea, yea, toddler, hurry up, the sooner the ass-kicking starts, the better." The boy cut in, folding his arms across his chest, he began to tap his foot impatiently. 

        "You moron, you realize that I could have started explaining by now don't you?"  Koenma growled, pounding his fist on a small pile of paperwork.  It was clear that he was already hooked up to a short fuse, this of course, never did stop our favorite delinquent. 

        However, before Yusuke was able to ignite the bomb, Hiei cut in.  "Just give us the damned mission.  I too am in the mood for a good kill."  

        After a final murderous glance to Yusuke, Koenma sighed, talking to Yusuke was one thing, Hiei on the other hand, wouldn't give killing him a second thought.  

        "This could be a very serious case."  Koenma said, suddenly growing a hell of a lot more serious than earlier. "There have been reports of strange energy bursts coming from your city.  Each one is faint, and disappears before we're even able to trace it." 

        "Probably a lower class demon?"  Kurama suggested.  Why would this be such a "serious" case?  There was probably more. 

        "No.  Although the energy bursts are faint, they are powerful.  There is however, some evidence that they are somehow linked to a **human girl**.  And another thing is for certain... each is a defect in time." Koenma stopped to let that sink in.  If the team had any mind at all, they'd realize that this was in fact a serious case.  An ordeal which could be very danger-

        "Hn. So what do you want **us **to do about it?"  Hiei asked, glaring at the toddler.  He, unlike the others who were standing shoulder-to-shoulder in front of Koenma's desk, was leaning almost carelessly against the wall. 

        "You moron! I want you to investigate this of course! Honestly, how can you be so damned stu-"  Koenma gasped and instantly clenched his eyelids together.  Oh had his temper drove him into a crater this time!  His life flashed before his eyes, as he prepared to be sliced into many, many pieces by Hiei's katana. 

        … but it never came… Maybe he was dead already?  What happened to him if he died anyway?  He was the prince of reikai, and he didn't even know. 

        Did it matter anyway, but seriously, what was going on? 

        "Hn.  Doesn't sound like anything **I'd **be **interested **in."  The young apparition said calmly, before turning on heel and strolling out of the office.  

        The four remaining in the office stared at the door in complete shock.  

        "What's up with shorty?"  The human asked, his crackly voice breaking the silence.  There was only one thing going through all of their minds, and that was 'what the hell?' 

        Koenma allowed his head to fall to his desk, before the starting to bawl like the baby he was.  "I'm ALIVE! I'm ALIVE!"  He cried, tears soaring like waterfalls. 

        "Something is most definitely wrong with Hiei."  Kurama said, for once stating the obvious. The **real **Hiei would have killed the prince right on the spot, yelled something at the very least… anything. 

        It was then that death decided to come. 

        Now, before you jump out of your seat and gasp and say that its too early in the story for someone to die! Like, Oh My Gosh! I'll tell you that death decided to come… **literally.**

        Lady Death anyway. 

        You know, the Grim Reaper. 

        "Botan! Don't pop out of nowhere all of a sudden!"  The orange topped ningen yelled, finding himself clinging to Yusuke for dear life.  

        "Botan"  sweatdropped as Yusuke started yelling at Kuwabara. "Gerrof me you stupid ass!" However, the girl instantly remembered why she had come.  She looked around at the occupants of the room and gasped. 

        "AAGH! WHERE'S HIEI?!"  She demanded in a high pitched squeak. 

        Yusuke, being one to always manage to get himself off subject smirked a rather perverted grin.  "Why, little Botan have a crush?" 

        Kurama shook his head, 'And to think, these are some of my best friends…' 

        "You idiot!  This is serious!"  

        Yusuke's smug look transformed into one of mild curiosity.  "Why?" 

        "Botan, what is it? Do you have any idea why Hiei is acting so strangely?" Koenma asked, for some reason, he was in his teenaged form.  He had been doing this a lot around Botan lately, Kurama noted. 

        Each of the men around her stared at her expectantly, as beads of sweat started to roll down her face.  "Well… It's quite funny really… you're going to laugh." 

        "What happened Botan?"  yusuke asked slowly, as if he wer speaking to some little child. 

        "Uh… heh heh… well, you know how I got that job in human world right?" 

        "Botan, that was a year ago, of course we do."  Kuwabara said, he, like the others, was getting rather annoyed by this lack of information. 

        "Well, Hiei kinda… came by yesterday… and he well… hekindaaskedforsweetsnowandIkindagaveittahim…"  

        It took a while for the boys to take those words apart and put them together again.  Finally, Kurama figured it out, while Kuwabara was still on "he". 

        As realization hit him, his eyes widened. "You WHAT?! How much?"  This could be bad.  If the same thing happened as last time… 

        "Uh… heh heh… enough for him to start flirting with a human girl."  Botan squeaked, a pathetic excuse for innocence. 

        "Oh boy. Suddenly, I don't feel so good."  Koenma said, his eyeballs dashing this way and that.  Slowly, he blurred back to his toddler form and fell into a lump on his chair. 

        "S-So… he got drunk again?"  Yusuke asked, starting to feel rather nauseous himself. That question went didn't exactly need to be answered. 

        "Hiei probably realized he did something stupid."  Kurama sighed, remembering the last few times Hiei had gotten drunk on that wretched substance which he called "sweet snow". 

        To say the least, basically every time he had made a total fool of himself, and denied any memory of it the next day. And, well, each time everyone else had been yelling, "**Hiei****! What the hell are you doing?!**"

        There was that time when they had visited Botan on her first day of her human job, and he had began to strip on the bar.  That time that he had put on a human woman's dress (better left unknown where he had gotten it) as well as pantyhose on his head, and gone dancing around in the streets of Tokyo.  Oh, and of course, when he had tried to seduce a terrified Botan.  And can't forget the less bizarre, but the first time that he had gotten drunk.  When he had gone around talking to every particle and substance.  Including a tree, a telephone post (which he ended up fighting) an innocent squirrel (with which he had a very serious conversation with) and, of course, Lulu the blade of grass. 

        Kurama didn't want to think of what his friend had done this time. 

        A/N:  Sorry so short again! X.X 

        But I'm really tired, and I want to get this posted before Sunday. 

        So, hope you liked this rather uneventful chapter. 

        Next will be a lot more exciting, I promise! 

Hiei: Hn. Stupid wench.  

        Kairei: *glares* my name isn't wench. 

        Hiei: *glares back* 

        Kairei: *glares* 

        Hiei: *glares*

        Kurama:  *Sweatdrop*  ^.^  Please review! 

        Kairei: *glares* 

        Hiei: *glares* 

        Kaire: *gl- 

Kurama: The following is not suitable for children who do not like swearing. ^.^ *deep breath*  WILL YOU TWO FUCKING STOP IT ALREADY?! DAMMIT, THIS IS SO FUCKING STUPID! I TOLD THEM TO REVIEW, SO THAT'S WHAT THEY BETTER DO AND THEY DON'T WANT TO READ ABOUT YOU TWO FUCKING GLARING AT EACH FUCKING OTHER!  DAMMIT! 

        Hiei and Kairei: O_O

        Yusuke: Holy hell… 

        Kurama: *sweatdrop*  Uh… sorry about that minna!  ^.^  That was a figment of your imagination, I would never say such harsh things! Now, just review and have a nice day okay? 

        *readers nod and go to review… leaving Kurama to beat the living hell out of the other poor two* 


	3. Kagome Higurashi

        Kairei: Oi!  Thanks for the reviews! Oh, and by the way.  I don't hate Kuwabaka… I mean Kuwabara.  I think he's an idiot, but so are me and my friends!  It's just fun to make fun of him… and easy.  But I think he has such a great heart. 

 Sorry but things are really getting hectic.  sighs

        Hiei:  Hn.  Its your fault for joining all those stupid human teams and clubs and-

        Kairei:  Oh shut up.  

        Hiei: You dare? 

        Kairei:  Oh course I do! . You won't hurt me!

        Hiei:  fingers katana and why not? 

        Kairei:  Because I'm the authoress! .- 

        Hiei:  State your point onna! 

        Kairei:  I can do this.  types _Hiei__ suddenly has a pink frilly dress on._

Hiei: What the he-  ARGH!  Suddenly wearing a dress  

        Kairei:  laughs maniacally

        Kurama:  sweatdrop  This is probably punishment for my crimes in my past life.  

        Kairei:  KURAMAAAA! glomp  HIIIIIEEIIII!  glomps Hiei who is still wearing the dress 

        Kurama: on the floor Here's…. The… Next…. Chapter… now… I'm… going… to … r-unn…

        Kairei:  AWW WIDDLE HIEI SO KAWAIIII! HEY WHERE ARE YOU GOING KURAMA MY LOVE!?

        Kuwabara: What about me, I can be your love too!  

        Kairei: AHHHHH! IT'S AN OGRE! SAVE ME KURAMA! 

        **Last Chapter **

        There was that time when they had visited Botan on her first day of her human job, and he had began to strip on the bar.  That time that he had put on a human woman's dress (better left unknown where he had gotten it) as well as pantyhose on his head, and gone dancing around in the streets of Tokyo.  Oh, and of course, when he had tried to seduce a terrified Botan.  And can't forget the less bizarre, but the first time that he had gotten drunk.  When he had gone around talking to every particle and substance.  Including a tree, a telephone post (which he ended up fighting) an innocent squirrel (with which he had a very serious conversation with) and, of course, Lulu the blade of grass. 

        Kurama didn't want to think of what his friend had done this time. 

                                                        **Chapter 3: Kagome Higurashi**

Kagome rolled over on her bed.  The pink sheets a deadly reminder of what she used to be. 

        A little girl clothed with innocence.  

        Innocence that was stripped from her.  And the innocence that she **allowed **to be stripped from her. 

        'I really shouldn't be feeling sorry for myself… but…'  she thought.  But, her head only felt like it was about to  **explode**.  She had heard of hangovers before. She wasn't dumb after all, and she knew she would most likely have one when she reached her tenth shot. 

        However, she hadn't actually taken it into consideration at the time.  All she could think about was… 

        "Inuyasha."  A low, unlady-like growl rose from deep inside of her throat.  

        She clenched her eyes tightly together, remembering his actions.  Honestly.  

        Wasn't she enough for him?  Did she mean anything at all to him?  Seriously, what she wouldn't give for once.  Just once.  One second of the ever spinning wheel of time.  One moment in the flow of eternity. 

        For Inuyasha to have her…** only** her on his mind. Was that so much to ask? 

        But no.  Because for each and every time which he looked at her.  For each and every "I love you" he breathed.  He couldn't… he wouldn't be able to see only her. Even if he wanted to, Kikyo would still be buried within his emotions.  

        It hurt.  It really hurt. Wasn't she anything?  If she was the reincarnation of Kikyo… then did she even have any worth at all to the world?  

        Worst of all was that she tried.  Tried so very hard to hate Kikyo.  To despise the woman with every shred of her existence.  

        But she couldn't.  She knew that inside that ashen expression was a feeling of incompleteness.  A puzzle which Kagome held the last piece of.  

        Gathering all of her strength, Kagome forced herself out of bed.  

        She stumbled immediately, suddenly forgetting how to do that thing… what was it again?  You know when you do that thing with shifting weight?  You know… that… that thing! With your feet.  And your legs… What?  Oh yes, walking.  Yes, suddenly forgetting how to **walk.**

        She slammed into her wall with a thud.  Leaning on it a while for support, she panted heavily.  _I will kill Inuyasha. _

She used her palms to push herself off her wall.  She could almost feel the warm shower she would take… you know if she actually got into her bathroom before the next ice age. 

        All she succeeded in doing however, was fall backward.  

        Boy, she really did miss too much school.  Maybe she would have to retake her Physics class completely. How hard was it?  Girl A pushes off from Evil Wall A with just enough force…  Girl A gon' fall.  

        And that's exactly what she did… with another thud. 

        _Just kill me now…_

        She thought bitterly to herself.  She lay sprawled on her bedroom floor.  Wondering, yet not caring at the same time where her family was. 

        Giving up, Kagome allowed her heavy eye lids to close.  Maybe, just maybe, if fate was smiling upon her, she wouldn't wake up. 

        Yusuke punched the nearest building in frustration.  Unfortunately, it happened to be a building which belonged to an elderly woman. 

        After getting over shock at the fact that there was now a rather large crater in the CONCRETE wall, the woman yelled at the delinquent. 

        "Why you little punk! You'd better **pay **for that!" She yelled, waving a broom in the air, which a certain fire demon found rather amusing. 

        "Yeah, yeah shut it ya old hag."  Yusuke said in an annoyed tone, arms behind his head, he continued on their idiotic trek.  

        This was harder than he had thought.  The girl wasn't a demon, so obviously his detective items were hardly of any use.  10 hours had passed and what had they had to show for it? **Nothing.**

        … Ok, so maybe it might have been 10 **minutes **but that's a lot for someone of little patience! It's not like that was **his **fault. 

        "You really should think first before causing a scene."  Kurama stated, walking alongside his oh so very professional friend.  He eyed the many humans around the busy streets.  

        "Hn.  They suspect anything, I'll have their throats."  The shorter demon said, his Jagan glowing slightly.  He was clearly annoyed by the vast amounts of humans, and Kurama could tell that he was itching for just one kill.  

        Kurama knew Hiei wasn't going to kill a human.  He was certain that the Jaganshi wasn't exactly eager to be on probation again. 

        "Oooh Shortie's going to be on probation again?"  The obnoxious Kuwabara cackled, voicing Kurama's thoughts… more or less anyway. 

        "Hn." Was the only reply he got, but the death glare sent his way was enough of a comeback anyone could ever need anyway. 

        "Perhaps we should simply contact Koenma?" Kurama suggested, seemingly the only sane one in the group. 

        "No way am I asking for directions Kura-"  Yusuke stopped in mid-sentence. 

        "-yes, thank you Koenma, I thought you'd have found something by now."  Kurama finished, looking away from the Communication Mirror to shoot Yusuke a knowing look. 

        The red head sighed at his partner's previous antics before informing them, "We need to find the Higurashi Shrine."  

        "Wait! Wait Kurama! There's something I have to te-"  But Koenma's voice was never heard, as the Communication Mirror had already been closed.

        "Hey, that's on the other side of town.  My sister went there once to buy something that was supposed to help with her powers, but everything was either fake or useless."  Kuwabara said, happy that he knew _something_.

        "Sounds like someone I know."  Hiei said in a monotone voice. 

        Kurama decided to cut in before yet another argument started.  "Shall we be going?"  He asked, changing directions from the way Yusuke had been leading them. Kurama made a beeline to the Higurashi shrine, eager for their trek to end. His companions were worse than fighting chickens at times. 

        Kurama was thankful, at least for the fact that he knew exactly where the Higurashi shrine was.  He himself had sensed a strange presence there a few times, but had never really found a source.  The only thing he ever saw was a crazy old man asking him to buy a bunch of… well… crap.  

        Looking back at his companions, he sighed heavily.  Amongst them was a fuming, hot-headed once thought human, a fire demon who looked ready to kill, and a ningen who simpy looked exactly what he was thinking… 'A, B, C, D, E, F…. Z? No that wasn't it. Start over….' 

        Kurama quickened his pace.  This mission could just be the beginning of World War 3. 

        Kagome released. 

        The arrow flew through the air, a whizzing sound was all that filled the atmosphere around the desolate shrine.  

        THWAP!  

        The arrow hit its target.  Bulls eye. 

        Her brows furrowed in determination as she notched yet another arrow onto the string.  Rotating the bow as she lifted and drew, she eyed her target.  Relaxing her fingers, the arrow flew.  It whizzed through the air before slicing through her previous arrow.  

        The point of the head pierced the wood directly in the middle as the string binding the arrowhead snapped.  The arrow vibrated from the force before settling.  The shrine moving into silence yet again. 

        Kagome sighed.  If people were going to sneak up on her, they should at least stop making so much noise. 

        "What do you want?"  She asked, her voice taking no heed whatsoever to her mood.  If these were more people who wanted to buy those stupid kappa hands or little marbles, they could just forget it.  

        She turned to the intruders.  Three of them.  One red head, one orange topped, and one gel brain. 

        'Grrreeeat' She thought bitterly to herself.  The three simply stood there in silence, watching her.  Staring at her. 

        Looking at her with those beady eyes...

        "What?"  She snapped, glaring at them.  Kagome Higurashi had been brought up to be a nice, kind, caring person.  A woman with manners.  Blazing with maturity and grace. 

        The orange topped tall oaf skipped… yes, skipped over to her.  Before she had time to react, her hands were prisoner to his. 

        "Hey! You're pretty! We just came to see where the energy bursts were-"  Thankfully, his voice… and his grip died when the raven haired boy's fist connected to his head. 

        The ogre slumped down to the ground twitching and making a rather odd "yeahaaaaa" sound.  

        "Why don't you tell her that we think she's not a normal human too!"  The boy said, glaring at his fist's victim. 

        Normally, Kagome would be highly suspicious right about now.  Thousands of questions would be flowing through her mind. She would want to be friendly, get to know these people maybe. But now… 

        "Hey! What are you doing!?"  The orange haired boy squealed… yes, squealed. Kagome stood there glaring and aiming an arrow at them.  Which one, she didn't care, she could take them all in a few seconds if she felt like it anyway…

        Kurama's eyes widened a bit, but over all, his expression remained calm.  There was something about this girl… something wrong.  Her scent was mingled with the salty scent of her own tears.  

        Still, he didn't expect her to just be aiming an arrow at them all of a sudden.  They weren't that far away, and even if they were, she didn't seem the type to miss. For a fraction she thought he had seen her eyes widen.  

        Then his suspicions were proven correct when she breathed a single word. 

        "Duck." 

        They did as they were told… wouldn't you? 

        The girl released her arrow, and Kurama could sense all of his companion's surprise when she channeled spirit energy into it.  A bright cyan glow surrounded the arrow as it flew above their heads.  

        A piercing cry rang throughout the Higurashi shrine, followed by an explosion of blinding light. 

        The boys all turned around slowly to peer at what had just happened.  All they saw, however, was a glimpse of a… was that a baboon?... as it faded away.  Purified. 

        "It's gone!"  Yusuke said, stating nothing but the obvious.

        "She purified it out of existence…" Kurama said, staring at… well now it was nothing. 

        "Right… English please?"  The ever dense Kuwabara piped.  

        Kurama, ignoring the familiar urge to lose his cool on Kuwabara (compliments of Youko) did what he always did… ignored him. 

        "Did you sense her energy?"  Yusuke asked no one in particular.  That, apparently was a statement that shouldn't have been made around the mysterious girl. 

        "Who are you?"  She inquired in a deadly tone. 

        A/N: I'm sorry, I'm sorry.  I really am, but something's…. happening right now. . ; 

        Heh. Please review anyway. 

        Hiei: You don't deserve it

        Kairei: sighs

        Hiei: o.o Aren't you going to do anything? 

        Kairei: shakes head

        Hiei: O.O Fox! Something's wrong with her!

        Kairei: cries and runs to the readers bows rapidly I'm SOWWWWWWY!


	4. The Chess Board

**A/N: . . . Yah Im back… finally. Sorry for the long wait. I really am, but life has swept me away with all the romance, betrayals, death.. gah It's finally winter break and I'll continue to update as much as possible. Well.. if I'm not partying. XD Nah, I'll do my best. **

**Hiei: Feh. Like that's a lot. **

**Kairei: HIEI!!! OHHHMIGOD I MISSED YOU SOOO MUCH. **

**Hiei: Feh. **

**Kairei: types _Hiei then cries, hugging Kairei._**

**Hiei: Cries, hugging Kairei **

**Kairei: Hugs back - **

**Hiei: Damned…Onna… **

**Kurama: .;;;;;;; Come now Kairei, you shouldn't misuse your powers. **

**Kairei: Types _Hiei and Kurama then begin to strip for the readers _O Like wow…! Oh yah, and sorry Hiei lovers (im one too, really) he's a bit…uhm… in this chapter . I don't mean to bash him, I really don't, I'm just trying to add the most humor now before…well, before the secret's let out. . **

**Last Chapter**

The girl released her arrow, and Kurama could sense all of his companion's surprise when she channeled spirit energy into it. A bright cyan glow surrounded the arrow as it flew above their heads.

A piercing cry rang throughout the Higurashi shrine, followed by an explosion of blinding light.

The boys all turned around slowly to peer at what had just happened. All they saw, however, was a glimpse of a… was that a baboon?... as it faded away. Purified.

"It's gone!" Yusuke said, stating nothing but the obvious.

"She purified it out of existence…" Kurama said, staring at… well now it was nothing.

"Right… English please?" The ever dense Kuwabara piped.

Kurama, ignoring the familiar urge to lose his cool on Kuwabara (compliments of Youko) did what he always did… ignored him.

"Did you sense her energy?" Yusuke asked no one in particular. That, apparently was a statement that shouldn't have been made around the mysterious girl.

"Who are you?" She inquired in a deadly tone.

**Chapter Four: The Chess Board **

_Well, in response to what Yusuke said, I don't suppose telling her that we think she's not normal would surprise her much. _Kurama thought dryly, staring at the girl.

"Well, in response to what Yusuke said, I don't suppose telling her that we think she's not normal would surprise her much." Kuwabara whispered to Kurama. Poor Kurama had never felt so dumb for thinking to exact thing as Kuwabara. Had the arrow shooting over his head made the baka smarter?

"Answer me." The girl growled, blue aura starting to form around her menacingly.

"Heh. Let me take her." Yusuke muttered, assuming a fighting stance complete with his arrogant grin.

"Yusuke, we're not here to fight her." Kurama said dryly, while his thoughts were still wandering. _Maybe being around these two lowers my IQ. Yes, that **must** be it._

"AH HAHAHA HAHAHA HAHAHA Heyyyyy guys!" Well, there's a scene destroyer for you. The group's eyes widened, and turned, afraid of what they would see.

"I…know that voice…" Yusuke said, his own voice shaking with fear. "Oh shit.." He mumbled, as he turned around.

There, in standing in all his glory stood Hiei, the three eyed warrior…in a speedo. His stance, as Yusuke painfully noted mirrored that of Peter Pan.

"IT'S BETTER PAN!" Kuwabara screamed, eyes wide.

Kurama wanted to cry. He wanted to scamper home to Demon World and cry. This was ridiculous. Simply ridiculous. There was truly no hope left.

"YUSUKE YUSUKE! I WAS FOLLOWING YOU AND HIEI GOT SEPERATED BECAUSE HE GOT DESTRACTED BY A ICE CREAM PARLOR!" Botan's voice shrilled, as she ran huffing and puffing into the Higurashi shrine. Upon the sight of Hiei, she looked as if she were about to faint.

"What is going on here!? All of you get off my shrine!" The girl, seemingly forgotten screamed, stomping her foot down.

Kagome. was. furious. This hadn't exactly been a morning to remember, but she feared, with the horrific events, that she would remember it for a long, long time. Although she wasn't able to see the man with the speedo's face due to the sun's position, she knew he was demon, as were the red head and the boy with the black hair.

But before she had the chance to act any further, her world went black. Her body went lip, falling with a light thud to the ground.

Kurama closed his eyes in concentration once more, the plant behind the girl shrinking into a tiny seed before returning obediently to his hand.

"K-Kurama!?" The orange topped ningen crackled.

"I thought it'd be best for her and ourselves if she were tranquilized for the time being." Kurama explained, keeping amazingly calm given the current situation.

Kuwabara rushed to the laying still on the ground. "I can't believe you'd attack a girl."

Kurama merely shook his head, "She's only asleep."

"That was such a pweddy flower." Hiei sang, skipping, yes, skipping towards Kurama.

Yusuke shielded his eyes as Hiei approached. _This is just wrong._ Was all that he could even think given the current circumstances. That is, until Hiei, the mighty speedoman became another appendage of our favorite Spirit Detective. The short fire and ice speed demon clung onto Yusuke's neck joyfully.

"Didya see that flower? Didya? Didya?" He said, his voice still low and masculine, a fact that Yusuke hadn't distinguished to be good or bad.

_That's it... I'm quitting. _

Meanwhile, in Sengoku Jidai. . .

The troublesome hanyou lounged on the Sacred Time Tree. His silvery hair waved as the soft wind played through the silky strands. The sparkle of his eyes accentuated as they gazed into the sunset.

In usual circumstances, Inuyasha wouldn't have necessarily chosen this tree to watch the sun's setting in. It wasn't particularly comfortable or easier to climb then the others. Besides, after being pinned to the stiff bark for 50 years, one would think that he would avoid the tree as much as possible.

But no. There was only one reason why he liked this tree so much. One reason, one girl, one event.

This was where he had first met the futuristic priestess. Granted, at that time he had been trying to kill her. He smiled at the thought, how extremely naïve he had been back then. His smiled was wiped off however, as he realized that he was still quite naïve.

His gaze turned from the gorgeous view of the setting sun to the direction of the old rotting well. The well that her head hadn't peaked out from like he had expecting it to.

It was a stupid thing to say, really. But then again, it always was. It was always a result of his short temper that he ended up saying something he shouldn't have. Something that, most of the time, he didn't really mean. His words from the previous day rang through his head "You'll never be half the miko Kikyo was." His words echoed through his mind, screaming over and over, ringing throughout his throbbing head. The truth was, it hadn't been that much of a statement, but this hanyou knew the effect it would have on Kagome. He clenched his fist, the claws digging into the palm of his hand. He knew the effect it would have on her when she had said it.

But had he known the effect it would have on him?

He didn't have to tell anyone else, but he needed to go back to Kagome. He'd make up some excuse, or act macho about it, as if he was angry instead of saddened. He was good at it. It was the way he was. And so, Inuyasha jumped from the tree, heading to the bone eater's well.

Without hesitation, he jumped through the well, the blue aura overtaking him. The feeling reminded him of Kagome. The soft, gentle, yet powerful sense that surrounded him. Filled him, caressing every one of his senses. He closed his eyes, almost willing to savor the feeling for a second before it disappeared. This led him to wonder… would Kagome every disappear?

The horrible thought was somehow pushed away as the scent that belonged to neither Kagome or her family floated into his sensitive nose.

"Demon." He uttered, jumping out of the well and bursting out of the well house with extraordinary speed, even for him. He could smell her sent, among the demons. She was in danger.

Instinctively, his clawed hand clenched the Tetsusaiga's hilt. In one swift movement, he landed in front of the intruders, the demonic sword of protection transformed to its glory.

His golden eyes scanned the scene in an instant. There were two demons. But one, the boy with black hair seemed part human. He didn't seem like a hanyou such as himself, yet he felt something human about him. Among the young men was a girl, his eyes narrowing as he couldn't tell what she was. And then he saw him, the human the last he had noticed, was holding an unconscious Kagome, her body limp and motionless as death in his arms.

His demon blood rushed, overtaking the human slowly as he growled ferociously. "What have you done with Kagome!?", he managed to get out between a growl and a yell.

One of the demons, the one with black spiky hair stepped up. Inuyasha noted, rather uncomfortably, that this particular demon had decided to wear close to nothing. And… was he coming for him!?

"BWAH!" Inuyasha screamed as flesh hit hakama. The crazed demon had jumped on him…hugging him close as he hung clung to his neck. Inuyasha's eyes widened, clearly dumbstruck by the demon of the present's battle strategy.

Inuyasha temporarily forgot about swinging his sword around as he looked at the fully dressed strangers with "HELP ME!" written all over his deeply troubled features.

Botan felt as if she were about to throw up. After a word with Koenma, she had left the bar to look for her favorite team. She didn't have to look long, given the fact that Yusuke's grumbling could be heard from a mile off. She nearly fainted when the gang passed the local Ice Cream Parlor, and of course, Hiei had trailed off. Botan knew, from rather interesting experiences, that..

Hiei Ice Cream Parlor TROUBLE

But still, this was just a disaster. Botan looked upon the scene, she could just see the horribilities, a word she had just so cleverly come up with, that would result from this.

Kurama, currently abandoning his usually cool intellect, was at a loss for words as he watched Hiei molest the terrified half demon. He could tell that this would probably be the time to pry Hiei off the poor guy, which would be an easier task had he been wearing more then…what he was at the moment.

"HEE HEE I LOVE YOUR EARSIES!"

_This is just wrong. _Yusuke thought again.

"Ehh… Urameshi, shouldn't we help that guy?" Kuwabara asked uncertainly from beside him. Yusuke didn't bother to answer, of course they should help him, but how?

"Botan, I said to take care of the situation."

And just as it seemed that the scene couldn't get any stranger, it was then that a baby decided to show up. But not just any baby, no, the Mighty Prince Koenma, with all capitals of course.

Inuyasha turned, which was a rather admirable task considering the creature dangling lovingly from his neck. He looked exasperatedly upon the toddler. The half demon was, for once, very much wishing that he had never met Kagome. "Who the hell are you?" He breathed, well, more like choked out.

"I'm the Mighty Prince Koenma." The toddler said, but he was no longer a toddler, within a cloud of smoke and a **_POOF!_**, he was replaced by a boy seemingly in his teens.

"Ehhh! Koenma, uh heh heh what are you doing here?" Botan said nervously, scratching the back of her head.

Koenma flashed her an annoyed look as he flipped his cape in an attempt to look 'cool'. He then looked to the human girl in Kuwabara's arms and frowned.

"Hey toddler! I want answers right now, how come you didn't tell us this girl was gonna attack!?"

Koenma's annoyed look returned to acknowledge Yusuke, "Well Yusuke if you'd had reported back to me like you should have, I would've been able to tell you more. But it seems," He looked at the half demon who still sported a Hiei on his neck, "that I was too late."

"Hey… if you'd had done more research, we wouldn't be in this mess right now."

"Understand Yusuke, that your love for going against authority won't do anyone any good in this situation, not that it ever had of course."

Yusuke huffed, the other two sober members of the team watched in silence, still a bit dumbfounded, as strange as it was for Kurama.

Koenma faced Inuyasha, who was growling menacingly as he tried to pry an ecstatic fire koorime off his neck. "Inuyasha, look at me." The Prince commanded, the hazel in his eyes glowing golden.

Inuyasha obeyed, his growls and motions coming to a stop as he turned obediently. "None of this happened, go back to your time, your friends are in trouble." Inuyasha nodded, turned, and walked back to the well house without a sound, the giant demonic sword and Hiei dragging with him. "Down Hiei."

Hiei dropped off of the hanyou as if he were a pile of discarded luggage, he lay on the ground still as death, as Inuyasha disappeared into the wellhouse.

The glow in Koenma's eyes faded away, leaving the brown eyed prince, well, brown eyed once more as he turned back to his Detective team.

Yusuke gawked "I didn't know you could do that!"

Kurama's eyes narrowed, since when did Koenma speak with such authority? Since when had he been able to change the motives of a demon? Something just wasn't clicking in the mind of the retired thief.

"Kurama, how long before the girl wakes up?" Koenma's question shredded through the spirit fox's thoughts.

Kurama looked at the girl in Kuwabara's arms, "Not too long I assume." He said, noting that she was obviously beginning to stir.

"Nnh…" Her eyes clenched tightly together for a second before opening slowly.

"H-Hey, she's getting up you guys…" Kuwabara said, stating the obvious.

Yusuke leaned closer in curiosity as Koenma and Kurama looked on.

Kagome's vision was blurred, she closed her eyes once more, trying to decide how to put into words what she felt. It was as if she were having another hangover. "Inuyasha…" She moaned out.

"Who's Inuyasha?" Yusuke asked.

"That half demon." Koenma stated, but Kurama found the slightest bit of distaste in his voice. What was going on? "He was the first being other then human that girl, Kagome Higurashi, had met in the Feudal World."

Kuwabara, temporarily forgetting the girl in his arms, looked at Koenma stupidly, obviously confused. Yusuke groaned, "Oookay then, I'm sorry I asked."

Kurama, on the other hand, found that the stories weren't matching. "Koenma, what exactly was the purpose of us coming here?" He asked, Koenma clearly knew more then he had led them to believe.

"Hiei." Kuwabara said unexpectedly. Kurama and Yusuke turned to where the fire koorime staggered toward them, rubbing his head.

"The hell?" Hiei asked, utterly confused, although his voice still carried the usual annoyed tone. "Where am I?" He demanded.

He looked around, and it only took a look at their faces for Hiei to realize what had happened. Upon realization, he looked away silently, finding an interest in that rock over there.

"Erm… Hiei, does it feel a bit…breezy?" Yusuke asked, seemingly forgetting current events for a chance to pick at the cold demon. Hiei looked at Yusuke questionably before looking down. His usual anger was wiped away by pure embarrassment as Yusuke found his face amusing beyond words.

Honestly, waking up to find yourself in public wearing a speedo was not an experience Yusuke wanted to have. Seeing someone else having the experience though, was another story by far. In a literal flash, Hiei was gone, probably in search for his clothes.

Koenma didn't seem to acknowledge Hiei's coming to. The prince looked confused for a moment at Kurama's question, before regaining his look of importance. "Of course, well, we were able to find more records, unfortunately that was after you had already left. Apparently this girl has been traveling back to days in history, back to the Feudal era to be precise. There, she battles along side a hanyou against a very powerful admirable villain, Naraku."

Kurama's eyes widened, Naraku. This human girl had power against Naraku?

But why was Koenma calling him 'admirable'? Naraku was a killer, a demon focused on the destruction of order and his own unknown cause which only brought innocent lives to end.

There was nothing remotely admirable about Naraku.

"So all this was for nothing?" Yusuke asked, his voice dripping with annoyance.

"Not for nothing Yusuke, there is much more to this mission. You too must go to the Feudal Era."

"Why?" Yusuke asked, raising his eyebrow.

"Because, we must make sure this Naraku is defeated in the past, otherwise, catastrophic consequences will take its toll in the present."

"Everything seems ok now, didn't all that already happen?" Yusuke asked, looking around.

"It doesn't work that way Yusuke, you all must go to that time and defeat Naraku, as well as complete the Shikon No Tama."

A small smile crept up upon Kurama's lips, _Ah, the Shikon No Tama, I tried to steal that once…_

"BWAAAAAAAAAH!" Kagome's scream rang out through the shrine as her state of mind finally focused. She jumped out of Kuwabara's arms awkwardly as she frantically looked around at the intruders.

"Okay! Just who are you people!?" She demanded, desperately attempting to regain her composure.

Before the orange topped ningen could proclaim that he was the great Kazuma Kuwabara, the Reikai Prince spoke. "Kagome Higurashi, I am the Mighty Koenma."

Kagome looked at the prince as if he were a purple hippopotamus, "The who?". Kurama watched, silently amused at Koenma fell over, his pride shot.

Koenma stood up once more, brushing himself off before clearing his throat. "We're here to help you in your quest."

Kagome frowned, her hands flying to her hips, "I don't know what your talking about, but if you don't get off my property, I'm calling the cops."

"There's no need to be spiffy little missy. I am Koenma, prince of Spirit World and these are my little helpers."

"HELPERS!? You're the only toddler here you little brat."

Koenma merely cleared his throat, choosing to ignore Yusuke's comment. Kagome looked stunned, her arms falling to hang loosely at her sides. "Y-Y…So your.."

"We're here to help you in the fight against Naraku." Koenma said, as if he dealt with ordeals of this sort daily.

Kagome was dumbfounded. Exactly what was going on? _Inuyasha's going to have a fit… _

"I don't need your help." She finally said, turning toward the well house. "I don't know who you are or how you know of me, but I suggest you leave." She didn't know what else to do, this was just too confusing.

"On the contrary, it's best that my team go with you. Spirit world knows of your ordeal, and its best that we intervene now." Koenma said, causing Kagome to stop.

Kagome took a deep breath, trying to sort this out. She had no idea what Spirit World was, and yet she knew somehow that they were the good guys. She had no idea who these people were, yet she sensed trusting them was a good idea.

"Just have them go with you now. Whether or not you decide to let them, I will see to it that they are sent. It's best you all work together, with Inuyasha also, against Naraku.

_He knows everything… _Kagome thought. Finally, she nodded. "Fine…" It didn't matter, whether or not they really were trustworthy, she didn't have the patience to think things through thoroughly. Besides, if they weren't, Inuyasha would surely be able to dispose of them. It wasn't as if there was anything more to hide from them, and she was curious to learn more. Perhaps when she didn't feel as horrible as she did now, would she be able to take more information in.

"Wise decision, Kagome."

Kurama, who hadn't had a say in any of this, too was taking in everything. Was he going to go back in the past? And if it was the Feudal Age, would he possibly… But wait, were Koenma's eyes just glowing again?

Kagome and Koenma exchanged words which he hadn't picked up on. Kagome nodded and turned "Follow me." She said, as Kurama started to pay attention once more.

They followed the girl to a well house inside of the shrine, she slid open the old shoji door and stepped inside the dark room. The wood creaked under their weight as they followed her down the stairs. She stopped at the old well. "Here it is."

Yusuke looked down, growing hungry for adventure. "Hmm… better let Kuwabara go first…"

Kagome remained silent as she continued to sort through her thoughts. Why exactly was she even doing this?

Kuwabara peaked into the well, "No way Urameshi, I'm not jumping down tha- AHHHHHH!" And down he went.

The five listened, his scream didn't last very long as the well wasn't necessarily too deep. A blue light exploded from the bottom, reaching the top just barely.

"Hey! Kuwabara!" Yusuke yelled.

No answer.

"He's there already." Kagome offered distantly.

"Sweet." Yusuke laughed, jumping into the well with a "BANZAIII!"

Another burst of light.

Botan peaked down, speaking for the first time in what seemed like ages, "Oh Koenma are you sure about this?"

Koenma nodded, "I'll have Ayame carry on with your duties, Kagome will need an informant once there."

Botan squeaked in response as she closed her eyes and climbed uncertainly into the well, the light signifying her complete journey.

Kurama was next, and as he descended, Kagome lingered to look at Koenma.

"Don't worry, they might be troublesome but they'll prove of use." Koenma said happily.

"Aren't you going?" Kagome asked.

"No, I'm too important to put my life on the line like that." Koenma answered, flipping his cape in back of him.

Kagome looked at the prince uncertainly before nodding. She still couldn't believe herself. Why was she bringing four complete strangers to Sengoku Jidai and listening to a conceited boy with a cape anyway?

Without a word and time to reconsider what had already been done, she silently jumped over the well, returning to the place she most certainly did not want to return to. She was a different woman now, and words could not describe her shame of losing her virginity to a stranger. _Inuyasha…_

Koenma remained at the top of the well, smirking. He closed his eyes, willing his body to return to normal.

Cells shifted, and in the place of the Reikai Prince remained the satisfied form of Naraku. The stage had been set, the vengeful demon pulled the baboon pelt over himself, as the puppet body began to fade.

"And so it begins."


	5. Puppet On A String

**A/N: **Peeks head out from behind corner ACK! dodges flying daggers and other sharp, destructive items iM SOWWWYYYY! inches out with a trashcan lid shield

Oh oh oh and go visit it's one of my ollld xangas but imam use it fer updates for my fics might as well use it for something, yes? My personal xanga is and my myspace is . so yah, just. . .erm, yah. But I'll try to update spiritsrose on well updates for info on my fics. The next chapters should go smoothly since I have all the chapters completely mapped out.

Kurama: Kairei what exactly are your intentions in this one? I can't say I like the look you have on at the moment.

Kairei: oo awwww innocent me?

Hiei:. . . will you just get on with it?

Kairei: ooh someone wants some luhvin

Hiei:. . .

Kurama&Kairei:O

**LAST CHAPTER**

Kagome looked at the prince uncertainly before nodding. She still couldn't believe herself. Why was she bringing four complete strangers to Sengoku Jidai and listening to a conceited boy with a cape anyway?

Without a word and time to reconsider what had already been done, she silently jumped over the well, returning to the place she most certainly did not want to return to. She was a different woman now, and words could not describe her shame of losing her virginity to a stranger. _Inuyasha…_

Koenma remained at the top of the well, smirking. He closed his eyes, willing his body to return to normal.

Cells shifted, and in the place of the Reikai Prince remained the satisfied form of Naraku. The stage had been set, the vengeful demon pulled the baboon pelt over himself, as the puppet body began to fade.

"And so it begins."

**Chapter Five: Puppet On a String**

**But if you're in the eye of storm  
Just think of the lonely dove  
The experience of survival is the key  
To the gravity of love.**

**-Enya, Gravity Of Love**

The air seemed moist. It was a lovely day, not to hot, not to cold.

Kagome was the first to climb out of the well. It was one of the few times she had ever shown up in the Feudal Era sporting something other than her usual school outfit. Oh, was she thankful of her choice of attire this time. Being the first to climb up a well with a bunch of strange boys and one girl beneath her in a skirt would not have been the best of scenarios.

_Does it matter? Seems you're a slut anyway. _

Her thought cut through like a knife.

She stood next to the well patiently, though struggling with her thoughts on the inside as her seemingly new companions followed suit, using the vines to pull themselves up and out.

"WHOA!" Kurabara cackled once out in the open. He and Yusuke looked around excitedly, like two boys in a new playground.

Kurama sniffed the air as smile swept across his lips. His senses flared with his old playful excitement. Inside, Youko stomped around, begging to be released as he hollered rather flattering names to his human counter-part.

Kagome watched the new time travelers. Normally she would have been more interested, but her mind seemed to be set on other matters.

"BWAAHH!" Botan, who had been sitting happily on the ledge of the well was so taken aback that her arms and legs were now flailing rapidly in attempt not to fall in.

She failed.

"UHPH!" A familiar masculine- definitely-not-Botan voice sounded from inside the well.

"Erm. . . heh heh. . . hi Hiei. . . nice day isn't it and… .uhm. .. meow. . ." Botan smiled innocently as she looked down at the pile of Hiei she was currently resting on. Yusuke and looked down at the scene below before nudging Kuwabara.

"Hiei scored."

In a flash Hiei had regained his composure, threw Botan off, and had Yusuke by the collar without even the slightest notion to help Botan.

It was only then that something inside the brain of Lady Death finally snapped. Of course, it had only been last night, how could she have forgotten, her being the only sober person associated with the ordeal? She had to keep herself from screaming upon the realization. 'Ohhh.. . what am I going to do? I _knew_ that Kagome girl seemed familiar.'

By the time Botan had pulled herself out of the well, the hanyou that Hiei had tried to molest and Kagome were fully engaged in argument. Seeing that her normal companions had chosen to serve as audience to the fiery display, she decided that now was her chance.

Perhaps it was better that Inuyasha was not traumatized by the Hiei speedo incident, but now, just as Kagome had thought, he was enraged. Although it wasn't quite as bad as she had thought, he obviously did not like the idea of five new people 'getting in the way'.

"AND SO YOU JUST DECIDED TO GO AHEAD AND LISTEN TO SOME RANDOM FREAK!" Inuyasha yelled, after Kagome had explained, rather loudly, the incident with Koenma. She resisted the urge to tell him that he too had listened to him. It didn't make a difference, he didn't remember a thing that happened at the shrine. And from the looks of it, their friends really hadn't been in any danger. Besides, the whole thing was still a bit foggy to her as well, she had only vaguely heard the ordeal, being that she had fully awakened only after he had left.

"INUYASHA. . . .SIT!" She finally cried, clearly not in the mood to argue this any further. This time, it was obviously quality not quantity, as that the crater the poor hanyou found himself in this time was equal to that of the result of a normal 30 "sit"s. She knew it wouldn't be easy to convince Inuyasha, but she also knew that no matter what he tried, the new boys and girl were staying.

"Oooh" Kuwabara and Yusuke cooed in unison as they gawked at Kagome's handiwork.

Kurama's golden eyes twinkled as a smile curled onto his features. He had used a similar charm that he had stolen on one of his insolent bandits, Yomi.

"Hey. . . where did shorty and Botan go?" Kuwabara asked.

Yusuke looked around, "Dammit, this is why I hate big groups."

**Meanwhile . . . **

"So, Hiei, how exactly did you get over here? I was under the impression that you left."

"Hn. I did, but that Jr. told me where you had gone. What is it that you want Botan? My patience is growing short, stop meowing, I'm fully aware that you're not a cat."

Botan's nerves tensed, smoldering pools of blood red piercing her person. Clearly his misdoing's due to the substance he affectionately called "sweet snow" had not fared well on his temper. Still, she had to do this, no matter how much pain it might mean in the future, she couldn't afford to let this mission go to ruins.

She sighed, deciding that she should hurry this up before he got too angry with her. Furrowing through her jeans pocket, she found took out a picture she had found on the ground of the bar. Thankful she hadn't thrown it away yet, she gave it to Hiei.

"What is this?" He asked, his eyes narrowing at the picture. 'This couldn't be. . .' His mind was foggy about what exactly had happened this morning. . .but could this really girl be the wench he had woken up next to? If so, he had to wonder what Botan knew, and pray it wasn't the truth.

"Hiei. .. well, you see, this is the girl you left the bar with last night. . ." She was careful to keep her thoughts clear, knowing Hiei could easily read into her true intentions.

Hiei visibly twitched at these words. "What on earth would you give me a picture of that for?" He demanded, the picture crumbling in his clenched fist.

The Grim Reaper didn't think of that one. Why would she pull him aside privately to show a picture of the girl to him? It made no sense. Surely he'd see through this act.

"Well, uhm. . . I just thought you'd might want to. . . avoid her?" Nice cover Botan. After all the years working in spirit world was that really the best she could come up with? She always had been a terrible liar. . . yet. . . was he buying it? Clearly the little koorime was not fully himself.

"Hn." He turned and walked away, using his third eye as a guide to the others. Botan inwardly let out a huge sigh of relief before following. The deed was done, and Hiei would never suspect Kagome to be the real mystery girl. . . right?

She shuddered at the thought. She'd be thankful if she'd never have to deal with uncomfortable Hiei affairs for the rest of her career. In fact, maybe she should just quit now.

**In the Village**

"Are you sure it was okay to just leave your friends?" Kagome asked Yusuke as they entered Kaede's hut.

"Don't worry, Hiei shouldn't have trouble finding us." Kurama assured her. Kagome decided against asking questions about this "Hiei" character.

They found Sango, the demon slayer and Miroku the rogue monk waiting inside the hut.

"Ah, welcome back Kagome-chan." Sango said happily upon seeing Kagome, who peeked her head inside first. .

"Yes, far too long we have lived without the beauty of your presence." Miroku said dramatically, earning a rather annoyed eyeroll from the woman next to him. Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Kurama sat quietly on the matted floor while Inuyasha seemed content in sulking in the corner of the hut. The monk gave Sango a dashing smile before asking, "Kagome, do you mind explaining this?".

Kagome blinked, as she had been focused on sending Inuyasha some dirty looks. The question finally registered just in time to make her look like a fool. "Oh. . . Well. . ."

The explanation was not necessarily an easy one, though Kagome was glad the two accepted things of such matter easier then their dog-eared friend. It had been a day of much information to take in, and after a dinner of fried fish, the sleeping arrangements were already being made.

Kagome was in awe at how easily their new companions were able to settle in this new era. Then again, as 'detectives' perhaps they had gone through much more outrageous ordeals.

"That was your best ever Kagome!" Shippo sang, licking what fried fish was left on his stick.

"Urameshi agrees seeing as he had seconds and thirds, that pig." Kuwabara said dryly, curling up on top of one of the new mats Kaede had provided.

Kagome watched her friends, new and old chatter amongst themselves. It sure was different, and it was kind of pleasant to have such a change. Time spent in the Feudal Era was never boring, but it was nice to have something different happen. Still, every time she began to feel pleasant, she was reminded of the horrid reality. Of what she had done. What she would have to do.

"Kagome. . . Come with me." The sound of his voice rescued her from her thoughts. She looked up toward the source and was rather surprised to see Inuyasha towering over her, offering a hand to help her up.

The two exited the hut, Kagome following rather confused.

"Hey, is there something going on with those two?" Yusuke asked wondrously. That would be one of the last things he would expect considering their earlier hostility towards each other.

Sango laughed slightly before nodding, it looked as if the two would once again find a way to be on good terms. Shippo sighed "You'll get used to it.". The fox kit then scampered to cuddle up near Kurama, who was settling himself on his own mat.

"Shippo seems to like you a lot." Sango said, smiling affectionately at the cuteness of Shippo's adoration.

Kurama smiled at the slayer while Shippo curled next to his form. "We don't come from a similar class of fox, but we are still the same species." Sango could sense he was a demon from the moment she saw him, yet she couldn't help but feel something. . . familiar about him. Surely she hadn't met a demon this kind before. She shook the thought off. . . although he was rather good lookin- Sango slapped herself from that one. Exactly what was she thinking?

Miroku felt his eyebrow twitch at the sight of the slayer's cheeks which were reddening considerably. She wasn't looking at him, her cheeks only did that when she was looking at him! So why wasn't she looking at him now? She was supposed to be looking at him!

And so, the admirable monk did what he always did to show. . . was it emotion? Like a ghost, his hand wandered to Sango's backside.

And so, the violated demon slayer did as she always did to show her. . .was it appreciation? "HOUSHI SAMA!" She cried, never being one to say his name, before slamming Hiraikotsu down on his head with an incredible display of speed and power.

Anyone else would most likely be left unconscious, but Sango decided that he had developed a sort of immunity to head injuries. She huffed before scooting away from Miroku in her sleeping bag.

_Scooting right next to Kurama._

"**YOU** seem to be a gentleman, unlike _houshi sama_." Her voice rang through his ears, speaking his name as if referring to a disease. Trust a demon over him, will she? Miroku sighed in defeat, though his eyes never really left the two.

Yusuke had been watching the scene with great interest. The human gone demon snickered beside the orange topped ningen. "Looks like Kurama's got himself a girl!" He said, almost maniacally to Kuwabara.

In an instant, he could have sworn he saw emerald turn to golden, shotting daggers directly at his person.

The wind had long since stopped, seemingly taking heed to the silence.

Kagome was afraid to breathe, let alone speak. It seemed like an eternity had passed in the time they had arrived here. Still, she watched him from her rock, while his own gaze seemed to remain fixated on the tree in front of him.

Although she had been watching him, her mind must have drifted off because his voice caught her very much off guard. "A-Are you bored?" His tone was more then gentle, pleading almost.

For some reason, with his voice came overcoming tingly sensations to her every being. It wasn't until a few seconds later did she make out his words. "What?" She asked in plain confusion. Inuyasha remained there, as if afraid to turn to look at her.

His muscles visibly tensed, just as they always did in talks such as this. It was clear he would soon say something completely out of his normal character, though scenes like this were so frequent, Kagome never grew bored of them.

"Why else would you bring your friends?" He asked, failing to choose the right words.

It wasn't as if she really considered them to be her friends just yet, but that was neither here nor there. "Inuyasha. . . "

"Do you want to be with me. . . anymore?" He asked, stumbling uneasily on his question. Kagome watched him with a soft gaze, she smiled at the back of flowing silver. He looked so awkward, so afraid of her answer, even his voice was shaking noticeably.

The miko finally sighed, bringing herself to her feet. She stepped lightly toward him, her arms almost instinctively wrapping themselves around him, bringing herself to rest against his back. Immediately, his muscles tightened against her body, only to soften again. She whispered into the soft material of his hakama, "No where else Inuyasha. . . I don't want to be anywhere else. . ."

Finally, he turned, loosening her grip on him only to embrace her with his own arms. He closed his eyes, taking in her scent. No where else. He wanted nothing more then to stay here with her.

"Hn." The exiled koorime murmured, turning away from the rather romantic scene. To mere mortals, hell, even most demons, he had disappeared. In truth, he had simply began to run once more, jumping from tree to tree with incredible speed as he continued the exploration of a unfamiliar world.

The way the two had argued earlier, how was one to know they were so deeply in love? Then again, it didn't take too strong of demonic senses to realize that there were some kind of strong ties connecting the two.

It seemed silly to him really. To think, one as weak as a hanyou even weakened by human emotion. Feh, what a waste. It seemed this point of view had never truly washed off, recent experiences with his companions had proven loving emotion was by no means a weakness. Besides, what had he done just the night before?

At the thought, he instinctively he reached for his sword, the thought striking his anger. In an instant he was kneeling on the ground, several trees falling to the ground heavily behind him.

In a rain of leaves he stood, sheathing his sword once more. He then took off into the night, hoping the memories of the previous night wouldn't be able to keep up.

He wasn't sure why he had saved her. As he looked at her now, she was just another human girl. It was silly really. However, what was done was done. It was probably just because he detested such a thing as rape.

Blood ridden corpses surrounded them, and he felt a bit ashamed he had allowed such slime to run with his group of bandits. He felt no guilt for slaughtering such companions.

The girl stared at him with eyes that held little fear. She was undoubtedly from the village of demon slayers that was only 10 minutes away. The girl seemed to young to be too experienced yet, but old enough to be used to such bloodshed. It was clear that she was a powerful slayer, although it most likely wasn't enough to fend off four lust crazed demonic bandits of this class.

"What's your name?" His tone was just as cold as always, and yet it didn't seem like she was afraid. This alone was remarkable as most found their blood running cold at the sound of his voice.

She didn't reply, merely stood there watching him with unreadable maroon eyes. She couldn't be more then 14.

He grinned a bit at her demure, shaking his long silky mane. "Best be more careful." He said softly before turning and leaving her alone on the sandy trail.

"I'LL KILL YOU!"

Kurama's eyes snapped open. Why on earth had he had dreamed of that? He had nearly forgotten that day as well as the night that threat had been made.

His eyes widened. Demon slayer.

He turned to the girl sleeping peacefully beside him in a 21st century sleeping bag. Try as he might he couldn't remember the girl's face clearly enough to identify her. He shook the thought off. There were many demon slayers, the chances were far to slim.

Why was he even thinking about this?

He shook his head, smiling a bit at his outrageous line of thought.

He shifted a bit, anxious to regain comfort. . . It seemed as if comfort was found only when he was situated so that he was able to face the sleeping form of the girl next to him.

**A/N:** Yayii. It's my birthday! Well, actually it was my birthday on Tuesday, but ah well xD.

So, yeah, I really am sorry for the great delay. / I hope to finish at least the writing of this story before this summer ends. I've regained my love for YuYu Hakusho, so I shouldn't have trouble with the whole inspiration thing. I'm still not clear with the couples for this one kag/hiei&kur/san are concrete, and am in the process of writing a few other stories most of which are one shots. And all in the process of actually having a life xD. So yeah, but Im freggin inspired and am determined so expect updates. . . . hopefully. .

Thank you to the people who are still actually reading this. sighs. Really though, thanks. I love you all.


	6. Unwilling Test

**A/N:** Sigh…I do hope you're still interested. The lack of updates are rather discouraging, aren't they sigh Well; im truly sorry and I am in your gratitude if you are reading this at the moment bows rapidly

**Disclaimer: **Oh look! Nothing's changed yet!

**Note: **For those of you who know what happened in chapter 374 of the manga series, erm, this chapter will be a bit weird. So I don't really have an exact point in the actual story line of the real manga (or anime) that this takes place in but obviously, the events of chapter 374 concerning Kagura are disregarded considering that I love her character…

Also, the whole thing with Kikyo is well, okay you get the idea right?

Just keep in mind that certain things in the series are disregarded in here, and I'm sorry if any readers out there don't like it.

**Last Chapter**

Kurama's eyes snapped open. Why on earth had he had dreamed of that? He had nearly forgotten that day as well as the night that threat had been made.

His eyes widened. Demon slayer.

He turned to the girl sleeping peacefully beside him in a 21st century sleeping bag. Try as he might he couldn't remember the girl's face clearly enough to identify her. He shook the thought off. There were many demon slayers, the chances were far to slim.

Why was he even thinking about this?

He shook his head, smiling a bit at his outrageous line of thought.

He shifted a bit, anxious to regain comfort. . . It seemed as if comfort was found only when he was situated so that he was able to face the sleeping form of the girl next to him.

**Nine Months **

Crimson eyes flashed nothing but hatred. She nodded nevertheless, and a cold smile rippled across his thin lips.

"I'm glad you understand. Surely you know better then to defy me again?" His voice was cold, yet filled with such enjoyment.

She didn't answer, simply nodded once more before sweeping away.

"Kagura." She stopped dead still, her blood running cold. "Don't disappoint me." He stated simply, yet behind his cool tone was the threat that sent cold shivers up and down her spine. She closed her eyes in frustration before regaining her steps, eager for escape.

**Chapter 6: Unwilled Test**

"_The worst secrets are those we're too afraid to tell even ourselves."_

_-The Open Door _

Golden spheres. Two of them.

His gaze painfully drilling into her heart, his expression showing nothing but pain. It was not like him. It was too much not like him.

"Inu.." she spoke, but the words won't there, only inaudible gasps of air escaping her frail, thinning lips.

A shrill cry ran through the air. But there was no baby to make such noise, not now. It was a ruckus inside of her brain that was driving the scene of the man she had grown to love away.

His form was fading, a single foggy apparition, disappearing into the darkness. Still the baby's wailing continued. On and on.

And then…

He was gone.

The girl, Kagome Higurashi woke with a start. Her head pounded for a few moments, as she fought to grasp at reality. She rubbed her groggy eyes to be met with nothing but the sight of her friends, old and new, situated around the steadily dying campfire.

Beside her was Sango, who had earlier scooted as far from Miroku as possible. Of course, soon as she was asleep, he had skillfully maneuvered his sleeping bag beside her once more. A few feet away Kurama slept, Shippo once again curled up next to him. Kagome smiled at the sleeping pair. The past week had brought much delight for the little kit, who was relieved to have a "respectable" male in their party. Perhaps that was a first. Beside them were two figures, Kuwabara and Yusuke who were sprawled out on and in their sleeping bags, both snoring loudly. It was a miracle anyone else could sleep at all, what with the ruckus the two were creating. And then there was Botan, who was proof Death could, indeed, sleep.

Of course, two members of their newly formed group were not settled around the fire. Not once had that quiet one, Hiei, decided to sleep with the rest of the group. And Inuyasha, well, he was just up in the tr-

Kagome's eyes widened, her breath painfully catching in her throat.

He wasn't there.

Thoughts of something bad happening, or worry never came in times like these. She knew, she knew that once again, he had left her. She slipped out of her bag, quietly so as not to awake the others. She was frightened, however, that her insides would burn to such intensity that it would cause some kind of disturbance. Fuming, she marched into the darkness of the woods without so much as a second thought.

After a few minutes of walking aimlessly, she began to feel quite foolish. Where, exactly did she plan to go before barging into the woods? She lacked Inuyasha's sense of smell, so it would obviously not be as easy for her to find him as if was for him to find her. She realized that it was too late and her body was too tired for any of that to make sense.

And yet, she couldn't stop walking, try as she may, her feet weren't listening to her brain's signals. A deadpan look crossed her face as she realized how pathetic she was being. But Inuyasha only ran off without warning for one thing, and that one thing was-

"Kikyo." She stopped dead in her tracks at the sound of the familiar voice.

Inuyasha's voice.

Dread filled her as she turned slowly to the source of the name's calling. Her blind intuition had brought her straight to them, and though she had suspected it all along, seeing them here was a different story. Knowing for a fact, seeing with her own eyes that Inuyasha really had left for his past lover was a whole different kind of pain entirely.

"Inuyasha. . ." Kikyo's voice was blank, her face was blank, her eyes were blank. Everything about her, it was as if she was barely there. Even her movements, as she reached out to him, seemed faint.

And then it happened.

He embraced her. He took her form into his arms and held her there.

She had witnessed their affection before, and hadn't been able to tear her eyes away. But this time, this time she turned tail and ran. She ran as if something demonic were chasing her. She ran as if she were a child.

A pathetic, helpless child.

She closed her eyes as the wind picked up, manifesting itself into a spiral which circled brilliantly around her. Her hair was loose, which was relatively rare, and the raven locks blew about wildly. The demon wasn't particularly fond of letting her hair down. For one thing, it became troublesome when she flew. And for another thing. . . the sensation of the wind in her hair made her feel so. . .so free.

But she wasn't. She wasn't free.

She shook away the thought, annoyed at herself. Her powers began to emanate beneath her feet, pumping away from her in pulsating burst of power.

Gusts of wind encircled her form completely and when it subsided her hair was pulled up once more, one of her charms used as a flying device. And with that, she was in the air, soaring through the night sky.

Kagura's frightened expression was gone, replaced again by a look of aggression and mystery. Absently her hand wandered to the place where her heart should be, where it was taken from. The demon of the wind scowled, and she concentrated on her destination.

Preparing herself for battle, one thought was in her head, as it always was.

One day, one day soon, she would be free.

Hiei chuckled to himself lightly. The scene unfolding in front of him was neither sad nor heartwarming. It was pretty pathetic, actually. So the girl, Kagome, was in love with that insolent cat eared hanyou, and he was in love with some miko.

He watched in amusement from where he stood, balancing effortlessly on one of the many branches in the woods. As the girl ran away he shook his head inwardly, taking a deep breath of the forest air.

His interest faded and decided that he had better things to do then to watch two lovers, one of whom wasn't even alive, engage in. .. whatever they were about to engage in.

Reluctantly, he followed the girl. After all, it would be a shame if the subject of their mission were to be killed in this forest. Not that he cared about that fool, Koenma, but he wasn't very keen on the idea of the others pestering him should he do nothing to prevent her slow and likely painful death.

Either her emotional fragility masked her senses or she simply was not strong enough to feel his presence, because he followed her undetected with ease.

Kagome hugged herself with her arms and shivered, her mind wandering far ahead of her as she stumbled along. She barely felt her foot being caught before she was on the ground, face flat in the forest dirt.

'Great.' She thought, 'Just perfect. Now I get to hit rock bottom literally.' Pulling herself up, her heart pounded furiously, and she sensed a presence that was far too familiar.

The leaves blew steadily away from the demon's feet as she landed gracefully and effortlessly on the earth. Her red lips were twisted in their usual smirk and her piercing eyes of fire scanned Kagome's fallen form.

"My, what are we doing out here?" Kagura drawled, from the unarmed girl's expression the demon could easily tell that she was not yet aware of her company, who was currently watching above. She had been sent to attack by Naraku, who was curious of the newcomer's abilities.

The demon of the wind wasted no time, as the girl, Kagome was already starting to crawl away. "Aww, hurt your little ankle have we?" Kagura purred, slowly raising her fan and sending the slightest trace of a sideways look to the demon concealed within the leaves and branches of the tree above.

Kagura growled inwardly in annoyance. How much would it take for the guy to act? Clearly this demon wasn't the protective type. Inuyasha on the other hand, he was easier to trap than a slug. She smiled a cruel smile and waved her arm in a fierce downward motion, sending blades of wind flying towards the futuristic miko.

Kagome panicked, even if she somehow miraculously acquired the power to dodge now it would be too late to escape the sickles of wind. It was all she could do but to close her eyes pathetically and scream for Inuyasha in her mind. Who knew, it had worked before. She had almost begun to believe her life had become like those animes she watched on TV, where the hero would ALWAYS come for the damsel in distress right at the nick of time. Maybe, just maybe..

He would come back for her.

It was then that Kagome realized 'I should have been hit by now…'

He came! Inuyasha had came to protect her! It must mean that he still cared for h-

But opening her eyes, she saw a figure standing in front of her who was definitely not Inuyasha. In fact, he was significantly shorter, clad in entirely black instead of red, and lacked the long locks of long silvery hair to boot.

The wind demon scowled at first when her blades were knocked away effortlessly by the fire apparition, but a small smile crawled lightly onto her expression. The newcomers surely wouldn't be pushovers, even from such a simple attack she could read this easily. They were strong, maybe even strong enough to. . . No, she couldn't assume such things just yet, but she had no interest in carrying this on any further. Technically, she had fulfilled her mission. She sent an attack, the guy blocked it, she could rightfully assume they were strong. Mission complete.

"Hmph." She huffed arrogantly. Kagura pulled the charm out of her hair, manifesting it into her escape, and swiftly took off into the night sky.

Hiei stared after her, confused as anyone would be but not bothering to show it. That had been quick. Too quick, as if the demon were testing them. Shaking his head mentally he began to walk back to where the others were, without so much as turning to the girl.

Kagome's mind, however, remained focused on a single thought: 'Inuyasha didn't come for me.' And if such a disappointment weren't enough, the one who _did_ come to save her wasn't even checking if she were okay! What, did he just expect her to follow him without so much as a single word?

But that's what she ended up doing. As fate would have it, only now did her legs decide to un-numb themselves, after the danger was over. And so, grudgingly, Kagome followed the apparition who called himself Hiei, without so much as a single word.

They walked silently throughout the unchanging forest, the scenery blending together as Kagome's mind raced. She stared at him with a sideglance, wondering what could be possibly going through the demon's mind.

Deciding that she didn't want to know (since it probably included the dismemberment of some poor defenseless being), Kagome strayed her mind away from the topic. Of course, this only brought her to the thought of Inuyasha. And the thought of Inuyasha brought the thought of Kikyo. And of course, Kagome was far to much of a polite, kind hearted young woman for thoughts of Kikyo to trigger more violent thoughts of dismemberment and pain. . .

"Um. . .thanks. . ." She said the words without thought, her mind eager for anything that would keep her from thinking of that arrogant, dog brained, infuriating. . .

"Hn."

She looked at him curiously, but his gaze remained on their path as he carried his katana in his hand. He was stiffer than a war general and his steps were about as loud as a ninja's. From day one she had not seen so much as a glimpse of a smile from the demon. Basically, he was probably the last person on earth anyone would expect to see prancing around singing _I feel pretty_.

Kagome, secretly amused by such a thought, decided to try again, "How did you find me anyway?"

"Hn. I was just passing by." He lied, "You're lucky you're not dead right now. Weak ningens shouldn't be wandering these woods alone. Of course if you want to die, far be it from me to stop you."

_Oh so pretty._

Kagome gaped at him. What was wrong with this guy? Had he not have toys when he was a baby or something like that? "I was just trying to thank you." She nearly yelled, crossing her arms. Her first reaction would have been to argue that she wasn't as weak as he made her out to be. But, considering the circumstances, she refrained.

"Hn." He said simply, showing no sign of wanting to continue the conversation.

_I feel pretty and witty and gayyyyy._

The girl huffed in annoyance. This guy was worse than Inuyasha by far, and she had no interest in even trying to talk to him again. Kagome walked back to the others in the oncoming morning dew without so much as a glance at the cold demon in front of her.

"Well?" He asked pleasantly, a smile that could only be deadly creeped upon his thin lips as he gazed upon her.

Glaring at the ground from where she bowed, she answered "They're not weak."

There was a pause following her report that made her shiver. What was to come would either be bad or endurable, and it was rarely ever the latter.

But he laughed a cold chortle and drawled, "Well good. I guess I chose the right ones then." His eyes flashed and anyone else would believe he was one hell of a completely normal happy male human. Of course, Kagura knew differently, and she remained on her guard despite his mood swings.

In the second it took for him to shift, he did it again, his face contorting in a blood curling glare, the shadows of the room overtaking his hard features. "Don't fail me on this Kagura."

Fear ran through her every being at these words. On the surface, however, her body language remained indifferent as she nodded obediently.

In swift motion she left his presence, quickly going to assemble their oncoming attack.

"What's going on?" Kurama asked, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. Over the past week, his friends, especially his older ones, had discovered that he wasn't exactly a morning person. In fact, the past few days it had been hell trying to get the demon out of his slumber. Just yesterday Kuwabara was given the task of throwing the poor guy into the river, sleeping bag and all. Of course, this event and similar ones before it had given Yusuke, who had had a certain impression of Kurama, quite a bit of amusement.

Sango, sitting up in the bag next to his, wore a rather annoyed looking dead pan look. "Kouga's here." She said flatly, and the fox curiously followed her gaze to where the ruckus was coming from.

A few meters away stood a demon Kurama quickly identified as a wolf facing Inuyasha who was glaring death at him from an almost-fight stance.

A/N: Sigh. . . im sorry. :( feel free to shoot me. I dumped that fag of a boyfriend so I've had a lot of time with my friends, silly boys, proms, and those all ager rager club thingies. . . leading to NO thoughts of writing. S o s o r r y. I PROMISE to get the next chapter ( which is alllll planned out ) up VERY SOON. & im not talking like 6 months this time! VERY SORRY. >


	7. The Changing Currents

A/N: I hope you all weren't expecting an instant kagome & hiei love confession. . . Cuz it aint gonna happen. O.o

Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own them. . .

**Last Chapter**

"What's going on?" Kurama asked, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. Over the past week, his friends, especially his older ones, had discovered that he wasn't exactly a morning person. In fact, the past few days it had been hell trying to get the demon out of his slumber. Just yesterday Kuwabara was given the task of throwing the poor guy into the river, sleeping bag and all. Of course, this event and similar ones before it had given Yusuke, who had had a certain impression of Kurama, quite a bit of amusement.

Sango, sitting up in the bag next to his, wore a rather annoyed looking dead pan look. "Kouga's here." She said flatly, and the fox curiously followed her gaze to where the ruckus was coming from.

A few meters away stood a demon Kurama quickly identified as a wolf facing Inuyasha who was glaring death at him from an almost-fight stance.

**Nine Months**

Kagura growled inwardly, it didn't take a glance behind her to realize she was being followed. Just as always, one wrong move on her part and those blasted insects would fly back to daddy Naraku and tell on her. She picked up speed, the wind carrying her a bit faster.

_ Once her army of sorts had been properly summoned, she had returned to him once more, and had been rewarded by a red object sporting rather unearthly glow. _

"_What exactly am I supposed to do?" The wind demoness asked sharply, glancing at the object in her hand before returning her gaze to him. _

_ He spoke as if he were commanding a child, "Just use it to stop them from getting across the well." _

_ She glared at him questionably. "Don't we want them to get across the well? I thought that was the point of attacking."_

_ He paused, and she was certain pain would follow for speaking up. "Kagura. We brought them here to test their strengths. I only want Inuyasha kept back here." _

_ Bravely, she argued once more. "Isn't Inuyasha who we want in the present, to-" _

"_Complications, Kagura. Jealousy is a. . . complication to humans. Use that to separate Inuyasha from the rest of the group. It contains something… similar to miko powers."_

_ She blinked. She had heard of demons that had been trying to control the magic of a purified human miko. It was supposedly a feat second only to the impossible._

_ His chuckle snapped her away from her thoughts like the pull of a leash, "If you don't think you can handle it, Kagura, I could always-"_

_ "Okay." She didn't let him finish. There was absolutely no way she was going to let herself be bound up again, like some kind of animal. _

Pulling her thoughts away from the memory of a few moments ago, she closed her eyes slowly.

And when she opened them again, there was nothing in her mind but the sense of freedom as the wind flowed freely through her hair, and the sun greeted her airborne presence. If only for a few minutes, she was able to feel nothing but the joy of pretend freedom.

**­­­­­­Chapter 7: The Changing Currents**

"_Its scary, really. To find out that your not the one controlling your own actions.."_

_-White Stag_

Hiei rubbed the sleep from his eyes tiredly when he realized that no one was looking. He was thankful that everyone's attention was on the scene playing rather loudly in front of them, allowing him to secretly express how exhausted he really was. It had actually been a while since he had actually took the time to sleep. Since they had gotten to the feudal era, he had seen the time the rest of the group devoted to sleep as his only chance of freedom. Taking advantage of this, he had gone off to explore the vast lands of the feudal era.

Still, he wasn't thankful for the fact that he had been awaken from his slumber by two amazingly loud idiots such as Inuyasha and this strange newcomer.

"You're not even around to ever take care of Kagome!" Inuyasha yelled, throwing an arm to the side as if to block said schoolgirl from the demon's view.

"I trusted her to you for a while, but she's still _my_ Kagome." The man said coolly, throwing a slight smirk to "his Kagome".

Hiei sized up the strange argument, and looked over to the girl who seemed to be the object of overly loud demon/half-demon attention. She wasn't anything he would consider as special, then again, he couldn't exactly remember the last time he thought anyone was anything special-in that way at least.

In an display of speed that still didn't surpass the fire demon's own, the wolf demon was on the other side of Inuyasha's recently upraised arm and had Kagome's hands in his own grasp.

"Kagome, put an end to this already. Tell that mutt who you _really_ belong to."

Kagome looked for a second as if she truly didn't want to hurt the man's feelings, but that was only for a brief second before her anger showed once more. "I don't _belong_ to anyone, I-"

But they ignored her protest, and cut off whatever it was she was about to say, and continued babbling in an obnoxious blur of what ranged from yelling to squealing.

Kurama looked back to Sango, who was calmly stirring the substances of a modern day cooking pot while Miroku fed the fire she was using. Neither showed the slightest bit of regard towards the scene playing in front of them, which even Yusuke looked too tired for.

"This is..?" he began, his voice wary.

"Normal." Sango completed dully, continuing to stir.

Miroku nodded beside her, "That would be Kouga." He said, tilting his head in the direction of the wolf demon as he shuffled the pieces of wood in his arms.

Sango still refused to look up, "He's under the impression that he and Kagome are engaged or something like that." The annoyance in her voice reflected everyone else's moods.

Kurama nodded in understanding, "And Inuyasha-"

"Inuyasha's just . .petty because he's an overprotective idiot." Shippo finished for him, though with words that were a bit more blunt than Kurama's would have been.

"Oh, good morning Shippo." The demon slayer said pleasantly, finally looking up from her cooking.

Hiei glared, listening to their conversation from a few feet's distance where he had chosen to lean against a tree. This was absolutely ridiculous, and quite frankly, his eardrums were starting to ache from the sound of the feud. What irritated him the most, strangely, was the way Inuyasha was acting. Was he not the one he had seen just the past night with another woman? And now he was suddenly acting as if the other girl was _his_?

Botan stretched, reaching into the air abover her head as she sat happily beside the running stream. Blissfully unaware of the racket that was being caused by one of her new companions and his "friend", she smiled at the weather. Sango the demon slayer had sent her to fetch some water from the nearby stream. It wasn't far enough from the rest so that she'd be in any real danger, but far enough for her to get a sense of calming aloneness.

They were pretty close to the well they had time traveled with, Botan noted.

Deciding not to keep the slayer waiting long enough to cause worry, she stood, 20th century water bottles in hand.

ZZZZZZ

ZZZZZZ

The vibration in her pants startled her, the bottles hit the soft grassy ground as realization hit her. She felt very much like a kid who forgot to call his parents who were most likely going to be very angry once the phone was answered.

"H-Hello:" Botan asked, flipping open the communication device, feeling more than a little foolish. The picture was much more blurry than usual, she could barely make out the form of Koenma on the compact device.

"BOTAN!" And yet, even with the static-ridden screen, she could make out the look of worry on her boss' features.

"Koenma! Um. . sorry sir, you see, there was so much excitement after you sent us here that I forgot to contact you, an-" Her quick, sweat drop accompanied "im sorry" speech was cut short.

"Botan! Where are you? The _feudal_ era!"

"It truly is a shame," Miroku began, nodding toward the heated argument that was going less than nowhere, "not every being is quite as . . .loving as I." His hands wandered slyly to Sango's squatted behind.

The sound of a rather painful smack was soon drowned out by, "OH THAT'S IT, WOLF CUB!" Inuyasha yelled, this statement (amazingly) louder than any of his previous ones. Grasping the hilt, he unsheathed his sword, the blade sliding into transformation upon leaving the scabbard.

Before Kurama could check with Sango to see if an actual fight was normal as well, the ground rumbled, throwing them all off guard as the sound of an explosion blasted.

The cloud of dust that had formed in front of them subsided eventually, and Hiei's senses flared and he cursed himself for being too irritated earlier to predict this not so little entrance. Of course, this only did to further his irritation.

A gust of wind blew what remained of the explosion aside to reveal the very wind demon he had encountered with Kagome the night before. Her blood red lips curled as she smiled with the calm of a hidden storm.

"Come at a bad time?" She drawled in a teasing tone.

"Kagura!" Inuyasha spat, shifting his hold to point his father's fang at their second unwanted visitor of the morning.

"Good to know your memory isn't too affected by that small brain, dog boy." Kouga muttered, already in fighting stance to face the wind demon.

The "dog boy" growled, but wasn't about to let his gaze wander from the enemy. "What do you want?" He asked, his anger made it amazingly hard to even speak clearly.

"Now, now, is that any way to treat your," with a swipe of her fan, blades of sharp gusts of wind manifested into projectiles. Inuyasha jumped out of the way, the blades cutting into the ground he had just been standing on. "guest?" She finished in a laughing tone.

Kouga had reacted just as quickly, but he had also managed to pick up the object of his affection in the process. "Its okay now, Kagome." He said, and it was unknown whether he didn't notice what her sweatdropped expression meant, or if he just didn't care.

At this, Inuyasha did, in fact, take his eyes off the enemy. "And what the hell are you doing?" His heavy sword welded into the earth as he turned to yell at his rival.

The wolf smiled, as wryly as only a wolf could, "Don't worry, I'll keep Kagome safe, try not to get killed." And before Inuyasha, or even the girl could protest, the forms of both wolf and girl were consumed within Kouga's whirlwind of speed. They didn't go very far, just enough to get clear out of harm's way.

Kagura watched with a bored expression, fanning herself lightly with the fan she could turn into a weapon at will. "Pay attention, Inuyasha." She said, before doing so, sending blades of wind stronger than the ones she had conjured before.

Inuyasha swore, crashing his giant blade in front of him once again. The blades either passed by him or ricochet off the sword.

"INUYASHA!" His ears twitched at her call, and he turned slightly to see Kagome, still within the confines of Kouga's arms, pointing to the skies.

Sango glared in annoyance, this wasn't exactly the way she liked to start a morning. The skies above them darkened, covered by the wings, bodies, and a variety of different body parts of oncoming demons who looked anything but friendly. It was a sight that was not foreign to the feudal gang. The demons were usually low class, but the amount of them was always the problem, and it seemed like this time, Naraku had found more followers than usual.

"And, is this normal?" Yusuke, who had been eating as much food as he could despite Kagura's arrival, asked. His body hummed with power, as he began to focus the mixture of spiritual and demon energy that flowed constantly within him.

"Well, relatively." Miroku answered, smiling nervously before readying himself, staff firmly in hand.

Sango raised Hiraikotsu, her left hand raised in front of her to steady her oncoming attack. At this, however, her view of the demons approaching was blocked, as Kurama stepped in front of her.

"Please, let us handle this." He said, smiling kindly. Ignoring the fact that she was probably blushed at his concern, she glared at him.

"There's more than enough for all of us." She said, stepping stubbornly beside him.

He looked at her in surprise for a moment, before nodding, defeated. And he scolded himself playfully for forgetting the nature of a demon slayer.

Eager to nurture the pride Kurama knew he had hurt, the woman slayer made the first attack. The boomerang soared through the air with great speed, plummeting through the air and severing the bodies of any demons in its path. Sango slid back, but kept her balance despite the force of Hiraikotsu as it returned to her.

Kurama looked back at her and smiled, mouthing a "sorry" before turning back to face what seemed like thousands of surviving demons. Once again, Youko made a valiant attempt to come out, and once again he suppressed his past self.

Hiei sprung himself into the air, head on into the mindless demons that were coming to land on the ground in front of the group. His masterful sword dance was a prequel to far more powerful attacks. He felt no inclination to waste his energy needlessly on a bunch of low class beings.

In mid strike, he saw the girl, Kagome, struggle within her "rescuer's" grasp.

"Kouga! Let me go!" Kagome said, as politely as she possibly could. Well, that was basically not politely at all.

He looked at her skeptically, "Kagome, I just don't want you to get hurt." He said, his face far too close to hers for comfort.

"It would be better than not helping at all!" She argued desperately as her hanyou companion narrowly avoided yet another one of the wind demon's attacks. "_Kouga_!"

He frowned, unwilling to remove his gaze from her as if oblivious to the fighting the others were involved in. "Is that what that mutt's been telling you? Does he make you fight?"

The girl rolled her eyes, huffing loudly 'This guy is impossible.'

Kuwabara placed his hand on the ground, and a few feet away, his energy rose from it in the form of a large sword, plunging straight into the bodies of a few demons.

"Kuwabara, we're gonna need more than those wussy attacks!" Yusuke shouted from beside him, grinning arrogantly as he steadied his finger in front of him, preparing to fire a blast of energy.

The boy growled from his kneeled position, and in the next second Yusuke was poked right in the behind as a second, smaller energy sword popped up from the ground. The detective yelped in a fashion that was anything but manly, his blast firing unintentionally into what was conveniently the one void of sky that wasn't covered in demon.

Kuwabara snickered as he stood.

"Oh, grow up would you?" Shippo screamed from behind, waving his little arms madly at them. "We're in a battle here!"

Yusuke's head turned around to face him so fast he was certain his neck would crack. "I don't see you doing any fighting!"

"PAY ATTENTION!" He screamed, and he spun around to see a clawed hand coming straight for him.

Hiei couldn't help but snicker inwardly between slashes as the Detective's face after Kuwabara practically saved his life with his Spirit Sword.

But it was then that a sharp recoil rippled through his arm as his sword bounced off the surface of a particularly hard demon hide. His sharp senses caused him to spin around mid air, where sharp fangs were far too close to react off balance.

His surprise was only furthered when the fangs and the mouth attatched to them, along with a fair amount of other demons in front of him disappeared. Their bodies dissolved, purified into the blinding path of bright, unmistakable power. Just a few fractions of an inch closer, and he too many have been purified.

His gaze retraced quickly, to where the schoolgirl, who had apparently found a way to free herself, stood with her bow in hand. "Are you alright!" She yelled.

He glared, and spun back around, unwilling to be caught off guard again. As if being saved by a human once wasn't enough.

"Sesshoumaru-sama!" The young girl called Rin exclaimed, leaving her little green, unwilling companion Jaken with his own annoyance as she abandoned their argument happily. She ran up to the approaching canine demon and bowed.

"AH! Sesshoumaru- samaaa!" Jaken too ran up and bowed, but his lord ignored his presence, leaving his annoyance toward the girl to rise even more.

"Rin." The westland lord regarded. He held out the net of various fruits he had obtained, and she took it happily. He watched her smile, and sighed inwardly as he was unable to do the same.

"Thank you so much, Lord Sesshoumaru!" She sang, her cheeks red with all the innocence and excitement of her age. Rin had always been more than happy, even the slightest gift she seemed to treasure. But it was the air of absolute joy that surrounded her when she caught sight of him returning that really got to him.

"Let's go." He said, stepping over Jaken to head in the other direction.

Rin nodded happily, and followed suit, hopping over the toad demon to follow. Her demon lord turned to her, and picked her up, surprising both the girl as well as Jaken. He then placed her gently on top of Ah-Un, took hold of the demon's reigns, and continued walking, disregarding his poor green-skinned follower.

"Sess-Sesshoumaru-sama." He muttered sadly, before following.

Sango found steadying her breath harder than her comfort zone allowed. The dust quelled around her, what remained of the recoil of what must have been the hundredth time she had used her heavy weapon. Miroku landed beside her, "Sango!"

Her exhaustion was evident, and he grabbed her as he jumped back from demons who had noticed. The wards he threw disintegrated them on touch. Their landing was rough and the girl winced, grabbing hold of her side where she had been slashed.

The monk looked around desperately. Kouga, unsurprisingly, had taken off somewhere during the course of battle, leaving Kagome who he saw was down to a grand total of four arrows. Yusuke and Kuwabara were a few meters away, spirit and demon energy blazing.

Inuyasha was worse off. He leaned on his sword for support, another failed attack taking its toll. From all sides he was being attacked by random demons, while trying to concentrate on the wind demon.

A rustle in the forest went unnoticed in that moment, until the girl broke out into the clearing.

"Botan!" Miroku exclaimed.

"Miroku! Sango!" She cried, her face displaying absolute terror.

Kagome reached back, only to find herself grabbing at air. She swore. She had entered this battle with an abundance of arrows, but there was no telling how much time had past since it had began. And yet, it didn't seem as if the number of demons was dying down at all.

She screamed at the sight of oncoming talons, and he heard Inuyasha yell her name in the distance.

But once again, the impact never reached her, and once again, she saw the black figure standing in front of her.

"Hiei. . ." She said unconsciously, her widened eyes watching him. With a blast of flame that emitted from his arm, a few more demons nearby were completely wiped out. He huffed before turning to her.

"When will you learn to take care of yourself?" He asked harshly. But before she had time to answer, he had picked her up with ease, and they were flying through the air.

"We _have_ to get back!" Botan screamed hectically.

"What are you talking about? Get back where?" Yusuke yelled, firing another blast of his famous spirit gun as he walked backward to them.

Hiei landed, and didn't bother to put the girl in his arms down gently. But, as far as Kuwabara was concerned, it was a surprise there had been a girl in his arms in the first place. Not that the attacking demons were giving him any chance to tease the fire demon about it.

"That wasn't Koenma at your house, Kagome!" Botan said, unable to calm her voice. She couldn't imagine how dangerous or absurd the situation was, but there was only one thing running through her mind.

_ Get back to the present._

"He doesn't know we're here!" She finished, confirming Yusuke's suspicion. He swore.

Inuyasha's ears twitched as he heard the conversation. Anger and a familiar feeling ran through him. There had been another time, too, when Naraku had taken the form of one's people trusted.

If Naraku had been the one who wanted them here in the first place. . .

"GET TO THE WELL! GET _KAGOME_ BACK TO THE WELL!" He yelled, swinging his sword away from Kagura, and sending Kaze No Kizu to clear the way to the old well.

Kagome looked at him briefly, before she found herself being pulled onto Kirara's back and flying swiftly in the direction the hanyou had cleared.

"Sweet, Inuyasha." The wind demon drawled, before rising slightly and flying in the same direction he had sent the others.

"Kagome!" Sango pointed from behind her on the cat demon to where more demons where approaching.

The girl had never seen more demons in one place in her life. Kirara landed, a few feet from where the well stood, and from there, everything happened in slow and fast motion at the same time.

A demon landed in front of them, crashing to the ground with enough force to make the futuristic miko stumble off of her feet. But before he could attack, his massive body was slashed, literally from head to toe by the Tessaiga. And in front of her, stood Inuyasha, who looked at her with all the exhaustion that must have come from hurrying over as fast as he had to save her.

She saw Kagura in back of him, and Kagome wasn't sure whether her scream reached him or not.

Everything seemed surreal, and there was no sound and yet, blinding noise at the same time.

Something pulled her back as the wind demon's attack hit the hanyou.

She wasn't sure if she screamed "NO!" when she realized it was Yusuke trying to pull her into the well.

Around the well, demons were landing wildly. And the air was filled with bloodlust. Miroku growled, eyeing the poisonous insects intermixed with the demons, and backing up as he grabbed the beads around his outstretched right arm.

"NO!" He heard the slayer shout, as she wrapped her arms around him from behind, in a rare form of affection.

His eyes widened, and he looked at the girl holding his attack. "Please." She nearly whispered, voice muffled by his robes. And he lowered his arm, acting quickly in the only way he could think of . The monk's mind firmly on protecting the girl who had never wanted protection, he acted.

He turned and grabbed hold of her, and jumped blindly into the well he had never traveled down before.

"Hurry!" Botan screamed at the mouth of the Bone Eater's Well.

Inuyasha swore, and Kagome screamed as he was pierced once more.

But the falling of yet another demon's body in front of her arose a cloud of dust that clouded her vision of him. And, in that moment, the spirit detective, Yusuke pushed her into the well, and she screamed the hanyou's name, tears trailing as she descended.

Kagura smiled as her opponent fell to one knee. "Giving up, Inuyasha?" She reached into her kimono, pulling out the strange shaped object. It glowed a dangerous red before turning to a cool cyan of spiritual power.

Inuyasha panted angrily, one breath. Two breaths. Three.

Kagome was safe.

Kagome was safe.

Kagome was sa-

Yusuke's landing beside him startled him, and he looked up at the detective, asking with his eyes why he too hadn't gone for safety.

The boy looked down at him, and smirked.

The flurry of bodies at the other end of the well was a bit hard to navigate through. But the real danger was the fact that Kuwabara had somehow ended up on top of a very annoyed Hiei.

"No. . . NO!" Kagome's voice rang throughout the well, as she snapped back into reality and control of her body.

The struggle of the group stopped at the outburst, and all eyes turned to the girl who was on all fours in the dirt to the side of them.

"Kagome?" Sango asked, untangling herself from between Miroku and Kurama.

"I can't. . get back." Kagome said quietly, slumping. "I CANT GET BACK!" She screamed, pounding on the ground.

Sango's eyes widened, watching her. "What?" She asked.

"The well..its not working!" She answered between breaths. "Inuyasha. . ."

Kuwabara, just now realizing asked, "Urameshi?".

"Hiei! The well!" Kurama gasped, feeling the effects, or rather, not feeling the effects of the Bone Eater's Well's power.

"It's gone." Kuwabara confirmed. "I feel it too."

"No. . .He was in trouble. . .he was hurt!" The girl began gasping for breath, pounding and scraping at the ground furiously. "Inuyasha. . .INUYASHA! No! NO!" She was very aware that she sounded like a baby, and quite frankly, she didn't care. She just didn't care.

Hiei watched, listening to the girl's painful cries. The battle had obviously taken its toll on her, yes, but this was just sad. Still, her beating fists into the ground and the tears rolling down her cheeks annoyed him, but not in the way he would have thought to be normal. He wasn't sure what, but just as he was about to say. . .something, he felt the slightly familiar burst of power blaze through the well.

It was different this time, though, the light that emitted from the ground where Kagome knelt flashed red before it turned blue once more. And from it, arose the very half-demon she had been crying for.

He stood there for a second, and all she did was watch him for a second before reality seemed to hit.

Kagome threw herself at him, tackling to the ground with her as she held on to him as if he were about to disappear. The hanyou looked sufficiently shocked for a moment, before nervously placig his arms around her. Hiei mentally rolled his eyes. He decided he had seen far too many pathetic love scenes since this mission began, and it was most definitely starting to annoy him.

Inuyasha winced, and the girl pulled away to see the many wounds streaking across his body. The blood soaked and darkened his already read hakama. "Inuyasha!" she gasped.

"Kagome?" The group looked up to the roof of the wellhouse. A little boy peeked down from the mouth of the well.

"Oi! Souta!" Inuyasha answered for the boy's wordless sister. He moved his arms to hide his wounds from him.

"Is- is that your little brother?" Sango asked. Miroku looked at her lightly, knowing what – who the slayer's mind must have been on. Climbing out of the well after battle was a bit harder than before. Luckily, their injuries weren't serious, it was exhaustion that hindered the group. But once out, the air of battle seemed to disappear, and it seemed as if they could finally take a true breath of relief.

It could have been much worse.

"S-Souta." Kagome said, trying very hard to appear normal to her little brother. "I'm home. Go back inside, I'll be right in." She smiled encouragingly as the group watched.

The boy nodded, a suspicious look crossing his face. Nevertheless, he turned and walked back to the main house after waving at Inuyasha.

"Yes, sir." Botan said quietly, before closing the compact communication device. She looked nervously at them, knowing they were all very anxious for answers.

A moment of silence passed by, before Botan smiled cheerfully, her oar manifesting into her hands. "Koenma said to go home." She said, as if they had just come from a lovely picnic in the hills.

"What?" Yusuke nearly yelled in surprise, voicing the other's thoughts. Botan sighed and hopped onto her oar, hovering in front of the detective.

"We all need rest, Yusuke. Koenma said he'll see us tomorrow." She sang, far too happily for the situation they had just been in.

"What kind of _crap_ are you spewing? Were you **there** ten minutes ago?" Yusuke spat at her, his voice a bit more than raised.

Botan giggled, "Sorry, gotta get back to Koenma, see you tomorrow, Yusuke." And before he could shoot her off her oar, she was off into the skies, leaving the others bewildered beyond words.

"What the _hell_ was that?" Yusuke yelled to the heavens.

". . perhaps we would be wise to follow Koenma's words." Kurama suggested, though he was mentally scratching his head."

"Yah, look where that got us last time." The detective shot back.

"Um. . we have a problem." Kagome announced, snapping the attention away from Yusuke, which was probably a good thing.

"?"

"Well, I'm not so sure Sango and Miroku can stay with me. Souta's back from the camp he left to, and I'm not sure how well mom will adjust to two more Feudal Era guests. . ."

Sango and Miroku exchanged glances. "And its not like they can find a place of their own or anything, they've never been here before." Kagome continued.

"They can stay with me." Kurama nodded, catching the others off guard. Hiei shot a knowing look at the fox that went unnoticed.

"Oh. . . that's right, you live by yourself now, right Kurama?" Kuwabara asked.

"Yes, it wouldn't be any trouble."

Kagome glanced sadly at Inuyasha, before looking away. "Maybe we should rest for the night…" She said, before looking to her companion's wounds.

Shippo started to walk toward Kagome, but Sango pulled him back, along with Miroku who leaned down as well. "Oh, no," the slayer said, a mischievous look in her eyes. "You're staying with us tonight." She said, and it didn't seem like Inuyasha or Kagome heard.

"Yes, let's give them some time alone." Miroku said, his smirk and monk-like tone clashing very strangely.

Hiei sighed in annoyance. He wanted answers, and it didn't seem as if he would get any here. With a "Hn.", he disappeared, his movement a bit too fast for most of their eyes to follow.

Something seemed to hit Yusuke, and his face contorted into another glare.

"What?" Sango asked, looking at him strangely.

"Keiko!"

"?"

"Oh shit!" And with that, he was gone.

Kuwabara blinked, "I guess that's our cue then." He said, none of them were quite sure about just leaving like that, after such a large battle and some disturbing discoveries. It just didn't seem right. But he waved, and walked himself out of the shrine.

"We should be going as well." Kurama said, smiling at the departing Kuwabara. "Will you be okay from here?" He asked Kagome.

The girl nodded. "Yes. Take care of them." She said, looking at Sango and Miroku. Kirara mewed in response.

"My dear Kagome, you make it sound as if we're babies. By the way, what is that?" He asked, pointing to the foreign structure that was her semi-modern house.

". . . my point exactly." She said, smiling nervously.

Kurama chuckled, and led the way out of the shrine. 'Be safe.' Kagome thought, waving.

"Keh. All these new people are starting to get on my nerves." Inuyasha finally said closing his eyes in annoyance.

"You acted like they were on your nerves from the beginning." Kagome said dryly. "We'd better get you up to my room without mom seeing your wounds."

"Eh?" He asked.

"She doesn't know really how dangerous it is there." Kagome said quietly. And he nodded, not quite understanding, but the solemn look on her features didn't make him want to ask.

Once in the house, Kagome helped him upstairs, he had finally let his guard down with the absence of the others, and his pain was evident to her. "I'll be fine," He assured her. "Just need a little time."

Kagome nodded, his arm around her neck as they continued up the stairs. "I'm sorry. ."

He looked at her questionably, but she didn't continue.

Mrs. Higurashi peeked from behind the wall, staring at the few drops of blood that had trailed from the floor up the stairs.

The sight of her in his shirt and pants (both of which were more than a little too big for her form) brought a smile to his face. She noticed his expression and her cheeks darkened considerably. Over the time he had known her, he had realized that as strong and confident as she seemed on the battlefield, and as hotheaded and irritable as she could be at times, the girl called Sango was actually a very shy demon slayer.

"What's wrong?" She asked. "Did I put it on right?" She looked down uncertainly at the foreign clothing. He was actually surprised that she had managed the buttons that ran from top to bottom, and he ignored the Youko in him that was more disappointed than surprised.

He chuckled lightly, smiling reassuringly at her. "Don't worry, its just a little big is all. It'll do for tonight, but I'm sure Kagome has something." If he had still lived with her mother, this wouldn't have been much of a problem, they were about the same size. The thought of her warmed him, as he imagined what his mother's reaction would have been liked upon seeing the strange girl he brought home. She would have most likely enjoyed teasing him.

"I'm not sure I'm cut out for this kind of clothing." Miroku's voice rose from the other side of the hallway Sango had emerged from. And, it was just Kurama's luck that it was Miroku who had neglected his buttons instead of the slayer.

Sango rolled her eyes and grabbed the two loose sides of his button-up shirt. The teenaged monk looked down at her in surprise, with a familiar glint in his eyes.

"Well, Sango, it seems you're being forward today." He said all too happily. The fox had a feeling he was about to cop a feel, but it never came. The monk had most likely deducted the situation, and was probably more likely to enjoy the whole close-standing button deal with Sango rather than Kurama.

The demon did see, however, the blush that crept onto her face once again as she concentrated firmly on buttoning the shirt.

Kurama cleared his throat quietly and turned away. It was a strange pull in his chest that caused him to do so. The feeling to turn away wasn't strong.

But it wasn't weak either.

A light breeze slid gently across the ground, only enough to stir the slightest bit of dirt. Our of the corner of her eye she watched. That was as much as her power could summon.

_ "SPIRIT WAVE!" "BAKURYUHAAAA!"_

She smiled bitterly at the memory of the pair's battle calls. Those were the two attacks that had combined and sealed the failure of her mission.

She returned her gaze to the sky, only to see a little sparrow, fluttering happily up, down, and arou-

_ "Kagura. . ." _His voice shot through her like a bullet of cold ice. And the vision of his eyes replaced the sight of the happy sparrow in the sunset-streaked sky. She twitched, and groaned in pain, blood trickling down from her lips.

_ "You failed me."_ He continued within her memory, and the blinding pain of the wounds inflicted from her enemies combined with that of those he was now providing captured her. And as instantly as it came, the episode was gone, and the peaceful sounds of her true surrounding replaced her memory.

The wind demon coughed, instantly feeling the painful effect of this action. Her wounded senses trickled at her, an eerily but somehow comforting familiar feel that she was too disorientated to place. She closed her eyes helplessly, hoping she would die here.

She prayed to a power she had seen far too much to believe in that this death would bring freedom.

A soft but audible thump in the dirt beside her made her eyelids snap open.

Her blurred vision focused to reveal strands of long, flowing silvery hair, sharp ears, and piercing golden eyes that rested above dark demonic markings.

Kagome sighed, running her towel through her hair. As far as she was concerned, the annoyed look on her face was justified, considering her companion had curiously peeked into the bathroom during her shower. "Okay, you can look n-" She stopped, mid-step and mid-sentence. "ow" She finished quietly, walking carefully over to him.

There he was again, curled up on the soft pink covers of her bed, with all the innocence of a harmless puppy. His nose wrinkled and his ears twitched for a moment in his sleep and instantly her anger left her. She dropped to her knees, and watched him.

She wondered fleetingly if Kikyo had ever watched him sleep like this. If she had ever sat an-

No.

She didn't want to think about Kikyo.

Her eyes wandered unconsciously to his stomach, and the thought of the wound that was there brought her hand to rest on her own. And she suddenly felt great pain at the sight in front of her. The hanyou was so unknowing, so oblivious of the terrible thing she had done. And the thought of her incarnation reappeared, as if to taunt her.

Had Kikyo ever gone off and gotten pregnant by another guy she knew nothing of?

For some reason, Kagome highly doubted it.

Outside the window, Hiei stood a few feet away on a branch. He frowned at the memory of earlier that day.

The thought of such a human saving him disgusted him, yes. But still. . .

The apparition growled, unable to place the feeling in his gut. And then, he lived up to his name of "flying shadow", and disappeared into the night.

"You known something, don't you?" Yusuke asked, his determined expression intimidating.

The Reikai prince sighed, and looked down, pretending to find a sudden interest in his paperwork.

"Koenma." The detective's voice rose within the walls of the silent marble-laid office.

A/N: Longest chapter of the story yet, which really doesn't say much. I've decided to take a new route in this story.


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